Tiger Women's Basketball Overcomes Early Deficit To Beat Hiram

Hiram, Ohio - After one quarter of play at Hiram, the Wittenberg women's basketball team found itself in an unexpected position, trailing the host Terriers by 10 points. As it has been on several occasions in the last month, it was Riane Burton (Houston, Texas/Cypress Ranch) to the rescue as she recorded her sixth double-double in the last 11 games to spark the Tigers to a 65-55 win over Hiram.

The win moved the Tigers to records of 11-4 overall and 4-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC), and it allowed Wittenberg to keep pace with the league leaders as the regular season title chase nears the halfway point. DePauw, Ohio Wesleyan and Wittenberg all have one NCAC loss, while Oberlin and Denison are right behind with two league losses.

Burton carried a heavy load for Wittenberg as she piled up 23 points and a career-high 20 rebounds in 33 productive minutes off the bench. She even led both teams in steals with three. Burton became the second Tiger player to record 20 rebounds in a game this season, matching the total recorded by Jade Simpson (Edgewood, Kentucky/Holy Cross) in a win over Anderson. Just three Wittenberg players had ever reached 20 rebounds in a game before the 2023-24 season. The school record is 22 rebounds, held jointly by Danielle Rogers (1993) and Monica Schmidt (1984).

Simpson was the only other Tiger to reach double figures in the game, as she contributed 10 points to the offensive output. McKenna Baker (Brownsburg, Indiana/Bethesda Christian) and Zy'Aira Miller (Cincinnati, Ohio/Walnut Hills ) added six points each off the bench for the Tigers.

Burton's hard work on the boards was a big key to the Tiger win as Wittenberg held a commanding 47-36 rebounding advantage. The Tigers shot 40.6 percent for the game, compared to 34.8 percent for the Terriers.