Wittenberg Unable to Keep Pace with Denison

Springfield, OH-Wittenberg was looking to increase its win streak to two games as the Tigers took on Denison at Pam Evans Smith Arena. The first half was close, but Denison then pulled away in the second half to take the win by a score of 79-68. After the loss, Wittenberg is now 11-6 (3-3 NCAC) and Denison improves to 11-6 (4-2 NCAC).

After being down by 12 at one point in the first quarter, the Tigers were able to string together some stops and got back to an eight-point deficit as the first quarter came to a close. In the second, Wittenberg started playing lockdown defense and were knocking down shots on the offensive end. A pair of threes from Karsen Karlblom (Crystal Lake, IL Prairie Ridge) and Kelsey Ragan (Whitehouse, OH / Anthony Wayne) and the Big Red lead was cut to five. To close out the half, Karley Moore (Tipp City, OH / Bethel) added a few points of her own and the Tigers headed into the locker room trailing 34-33.

In the second half, Denison started off strong, but the Tigers stayed close until a minute left in the thrid quarter, where the lead had expanded to six, 55-49. In the fourth, the Big Red pulled away even more and the Tigers were unable to keep up, eventually falling by a score of 79-68. The leading scorer for the Big Red was Abby Cooch, who tallied a double-double with 21 point and 10 rebounds.

Team Leaders

• Riane Burton (Houston, TX / Cypress Ranch) led the team in scoring with 17 points and Karlblom also reached double figures with 11.
• Burton also led the team in rebounds with 11, giving her a double-double, while Karlblom and Taryn Cash (Cincinnati, OH / Princeton) grabbed three apiece.
• Cash led the Tigers in assists with six and Madi Barnett (Cincinnati, OH / Kings) added three coming off the bench.
• Burton, Cash and Moore each added two steals each to their stat sheet.

Team Comparison

• Wittenberg shot better from three than the Big Red, 8-14 (57.1%) to 7-15 (46.7%)
• The Tigers also led in asists, 15-10
• Wittenberg only had 8 turnovers to the Big Red's 12
• The Tigers led in second chance points, 9-4, and points off turnovers, 9-5
• They led in fast break points 11-8 and outscored the Big Red in bench scoring, 22-17

The Tigers will take the court again on Saturday, January 25th, when they travel to Hiram to take on the Terriers at 3:00 PM.