Comeback Bid Ends Just Short in Non-Conference Finale

Springfield, OH - The Tigers took on the Carnegie Mellon Tartans in their last non-conference game before resuming North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) play. In what was closely contested game throughout, the Tigers came back from an early double-digit deficit to take a lead into the fourth quarter, but couldn't hold on, ultimately falling, 62-53.

The first bucket of the game came from Wittenberg's leading scorer, senior Karsen Karlblom (Crystal Lake, IL / Prairie Ridge), but the Tartans answered with a 6-0 run over the next five minutes before eventually stretching the lead to six and closing out the first quarter with four answered points to go up by 10 points at 16-6. The Tigers fought back in the second quarter behind 11 points from Karlblom, including nine of them coming from deep. Heading into the locker room, Wittenberg cut the Tartan lead from 13 to one in the second quarter to trail just 25-24 at halftime.

The Tigers flipped the script in the third quarter, holding the Tartans to 11 points while scoring 15 of their own, with both Madi Barnett (Cincinnati, OH / Kings) and Molly Mossing (Cedarville, OH / Cedarville) dropping four points as the Tigers headed into the fourth quarter with a three-point lead, 39-36. Once again, each team opened up the final quarter of play going back-and-forth on the scoreboard, fighting for the lead as the game reached the final minutes. With only 44 second remaining, the Tigers had gone cold and the Tartans had been heating up as the Tigers now faced an eight-point deficit and were forced to play the foul game. As their early comeback bid materialized, they wouldn't be as lucky late in the game, unable to find the bottom of the bucket late.

Team Leaders

• Karlblom logged her third 20-point game of the season and Mossing had her second consecutive game in double digits with 11 as the only two Tigers in double figures.
• Karlblom led the team in rebounds with seven while Mossing and Myah Johnson (Jeffersonville, IN / Jeffersonville) each grabbed four.
• Barnett logged her fifth game of five or more assists with five to lead the team and Karlblom dished out four.
• Karlblom also logged a career high in steals with five as the only Tiger to record any.

Team Comparison

• The Tigers shot 22-50 (44%) from the field, 7-15 (46.7%) from three and 2-7 (28.6%) from the line. Wittenberg also pulled down 27 rebounds, logged 14 assists, turned the ball over 13 times and scored eight points off turnovers. They only had three second chance points, 20 points in the paint and 11 bench points.
• The Tartans went 21-49 (42.9%) overall, 4-16 (25%) from downtown and 16-28 (57.1%) from the charity stripe. Carnegie Mellon also grabbed 32 rebounds and dished out 11 assists while matching the Tigers in turnovers with 13. They scored nine points off turnovers, six second chance points, 30 points in the paint and 15 bench points.

Next Up

The Tigers take on nationally ranked Ohio Wesleyan at home on Saturday, January 10th at 1:00 PM as they look to get their record over .500 against NCAC opponents.

Story by: Grant Martin