Springfield, OH- Wittenberg was back in Pam Evans Arena for the inaugural Wittenberg Holiday Classic. The women got the tournament started against Clark State. The Tigers who were coming off of a conference loss looked to start the holiday season with a win.
The Tigers were led by Delaney Williams, Abigail Yunker, Kristie Kalis, Jade Simpson, and Kelsey Ragan on the court as Wittenberg's starting five. The starting line-up accumulated a total of 32 points, 18 rebounds, and an overall shooting percentage of 48.6%.
Wittenberg quickly got things started with two back-to-back three-point shots from seniors, Kalis and Yunker. Yunker went on to control the offensive game with eight points in four minutes of play. The Tigers were able to put up 23 points in the first quarter, with eleven of those coming from fast breaks. Wittenberg was led by Yunker, Kalis, and Kylee Slone who put up 19 of the Red & White points. Slone picked up her sixth point of the season on a made lay-up and final points of the first quarter. Wittenberg limited Clark State to 12 points to head into the second quarter with a 23-12 lead. Fresh faces stepped in for the Tigers in the second quarter; freshman Jaida Malone picked up her first career points with a jump shot to give Wittenberg their 29th point of the game. Semie Brar quickly climbed in the statistics, putting up seven points in the second quarter while the Tigers went on a 15-point run. Brar would add two more points to her total while Wittenberg added 19 points to their lead. Wittenberg headed into the locker room with a comfortable 42-16 lead.
Wittenberg didn't waste any time getting to work in the third quarter, putting up eleven points in the first half of the quarter. The Tigers were able to extend their lead to 35 with 5:30 left to play, flying through the Eagles defense to the basket. Wittenberg lowered their scoring power in the third quarter but were still able to extend their lead over the Eagles to 42 points with a 60-18 score heading into the final quarter of play.
The Tigers hit their largest lead of the game in the fourth quarter, tripling the Eagles points with their 74th point of the game coming from Jaida Malone. Malone became the fourth Wittenberg player to hit double digits in points with 12 on the day off of a lay-up. Along with Malone, Yunker and Brar were tied with 14 points and under four to play while Kalis tallied 11. The Tigers ended with a 57 point difference with a final score of 87-30.
In the past eight games Wittenberg has averaged 62.3 points per game, going 38.2% from the field, 27.7% in three-point percentage, and 66.3% from the line. Wittenberg was able to surpass their season average in points, field goal percentage, three-point percentage, and free-throw percentage. The Tigers went 41.6% from the field, 36.8% in three-points, and 69.6% from the line to improve their season average.
Wittenberg Leaders- The Tigers had 14 different individuals score, being led by Semie Brar offensively with 15 points, going 4-5 from the line, 5-10 in the field, and 1-3 in three points. Following in points on the night was Abigail Yunker and Jaida Malone with 14 each. Delaney Williams picked up six assists each which led to 15 points for the Tigers. Jade Simpson led the way for Wittenberg in rebounds with six defensive and three offensive rebounds.
NCAC Leaders- For the fifth week in a row five Tigers sit in the top ten in the NCAC for statistics. Just outside the top ten for points is Abigail Yunker at number 11 with 120. Jade Simpson sits at number nine in the conference for field goal percentage with a season average of 45.8%. Kalis and Yunker are all in the top ten for three-points made this season with Kalis leading the way at number three, while Yunker sits at eight. For three-point percentage Yunker lands at number two in the conference with 48.1% while Kelsey Ragan lands at number four with 42.3%. Defensively, Jade Simpson lands at number eight in the conference for rebounds with 81; 54 being defensive and 27 being offensive. Delaney Williams sits at number three for assists on the season with 40. (For complete NCAC statistical leaders go to https://www.northcoast.org/sports/wbkb/2021-22/leaders)
Up Next- The Tigers will return home on Wednesday for day three of the Wittenberg Holiday Classic against Asbury at 2PM.