Tiger Women's Basketball Get Back To Winning Ways With Win At Franciscan

STEUBENVILLE, OH – Coming off a long road trip that included two tough games in just over 24 hours, Wittenberg's Women's Basketball showed no ill effects from the jet lag as the Tigers put together a fine performance in their first win of the new year – an 82-65 non-conference defeat of Franciscan University.

Coming off an overtime loss to Cal Lutheran on Monday in the D3hoops.com Classic in Las Vegas on Dec. 30, the Tigers enjoyed an easier time during this road game at Finnegan Fieldhouse. The Tigers took an 11-9 lead on a three-pointer by Kelsey Ragan (Whitehouse, OH / Anthony Wayne) at the 7:19 mark of the first quarter and never looked back. Wittenberg landed four three-pointers in the first frame.

Wittenberg led for more than 38 minutes of the game and shot 42.6% from the field en route to the victory to improve to 9-3 on the season. The Tigers' largest lead of the game was 20 points with 1:24 left in the fourth quarter at 82-62.

Leading the way in scoring for the Tigers was Karsen Karlblom (Crystal Lake, IL / Prairie Ridge), who continued her outstanding offensive play with 20 points on the night to go along with nine rebounds. It was just the third time that Karlblom has led Wittenberg in scoring, despite the fact that she leads the team with 12.6 points per game. Jazmyn Gaines-Burns (Bladensburg, MD / Elizabeth Seton), who was unable to play against Franciscan due to illness, is the team's second-leading scorer, averaging 11.4 points per game.

Taryn Cash (Cincinnati, OH / Princeton) and McKenna Baker (Brownsburg, IN / Bethesda Christian) led the team in assists with five each against the Barons, and Riane Burton (Houston, TX / Cypress Ranch) had a team-high 10 rebounds while adding nine points. Ragan also had nine points, while Payton Cronen (Louisville, KY / Assumption) tossed in 11.

Team stats for Wittenberg included going 29-for-68 from the field, 11-for-31 from three-point land (35.5%), and 13-of-17 from the free-throw line (76.5%). The Tigers outrebounded Franciscan 48-34 and got 28 points from the bench. Witt also turned in 19 assists and four blocks.

Leading the Barons in scoring was Jazzlyn Melnyk with 15 points, Maria McCallen added 14, and Caroline Reedy had 12.  Melnyk and Reedy each had five rebounds to lead Franciscan, which drops to 1-11 on the season.

Wittenberg will host Wooster on Saturday, Jan. 4, in a North Coast Athletic Conference matchup beginning at 2 p.m. at Pam Evans Smith Arena, part of the Health, Wellness & Athletics Complex.