Tiger Women’s Basketball Completes 2-0 Weekend At St. John Fisher Tournament

Karley Moore Wittenberg Women's Basketball
Karley Moore | Photo by Pam Klopfer

PITTSFORD, NY – It's two in a row for Wittenberg's Women's Basketball, which overcame a slow start to pick up its second win in as many days at the Woodcliff Hotel and Spa Tournament over host St. John Fisher, 76-67, in the Cardinals' Manning and Napier Gymnasium.

Coming off a 62-point win over Hilbert, the Tigers hit the boards hard against the Cardinals, pulling down 21 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive ones and led more than half of the game after a tight, back-and-forth first half. In this first meeting between the two teams, St. John Fisher came out of the gates strong, holding Wittenberg to just eight points in the first quarter to take a 21-8 early lead. But the Tigers regrouped behind a tough defense and turned the tables on the Cardinals in the second quarter, outscoring their hosts 24-10 to take a three-point lead into the locker room at halftime.

Wittenberg extended its lead after the third quarter was in the books, going up 53-45, and the Tigers would hang on from there to improve to 2-1 overall on the young season. The Tigers, who shot 45.9 percent from the field (28-of-61), got 28 points from their bench and scored 20 points off turnovers.

Four Tigers scored in double figures with Karsen Karlblom (Crystal Lake, IL / Prairie Ridge) pouring in a team-high 19 points in her third game in the Red & White. Madi Barnett (Cincinnati, OH / Kings) threw in 14, Payton Cronen (Louisville, KY / Assumption) had 12, and Jazmyn Gaines-Burns (Bladensburg, MD / Elizabeth Seton) added 11. Karley Moore (Tipp City, OH / Bethel) led the team in rebounds with eight, Cronen pulled down six, and Karlblom added five. Taryn Cash (Cincinnati, OH / Princeton) led the team in assists with eight, and she also had four rebounds. Barnett had three assists and a team-high three steals.

Team totals for Wittenberg included 32 rebounds, 14 assists, eight steals, and four blocks. The Tigers also went 13-of-19 from the free-throw line.

Team stats for St. John Fisher included 28 rebounds, 12 assists, 12 turnovers, just six points off the bench, three blocks, and nine steals. Katie Moravec led the Cardinals with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and four steals. With the loss, St. John Fisher drops to 2-3 on the season.

Ohio Northern (3-0) defeated Hilbert (0-3), 80-40, in the other game that was part of Sunday's tournament.

Next up, Wittenberg will travel to Otterbein on Saturday, Nov. 23, for a game set for a 1 p.m. start time.