Women’s Basketball Loses to Oberlin, 73-66, on Senior Day

SPRINGFIELD, OH – Despite dropping a close North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) battle to visiting Oberlin, 73-66, Wittenberg women's basketball had reason to celebrate as the Tigers honored two outstanding seniors while welcoming back a host of alumni players on Senior Recognition and Alumni Day, on Saturday, Feb. 14, at Pam Evans Smith Arena, part of the Health, Wellness & Athletics Complex.

The Tigers celebrated seniors Karsen Karlblom (Crystal Lake, IL / Prairie Ridge) and Cadence Boyd (Cincinnati, OH / Monroe) in a pre-game ceremony. Among the crowd members were more than a dozen alumni members of the program.

Karlblom, a sports management major, plans to give back to the next generation of basketball players by being a coach. She began her journey at Witt as a junior transfer; and in a short amount of time she made a great impact on the team. Last season, she helped lead the Tigers to the NCAC Tournament championship game and was named to the all-tournament team while ranking among the league leaders with a 49.3 three-point percentage for the season.

Boyd, a nursing major, is planning to be a pediatric nurse and coach high school and AAU basketball after graduation. Her favorite memory from this season is hitting a three-pointer to send the game into overtime against Ohio Northern University en route to a Tiger victory. The Wittenberg women's basketball program thanked both seniors for their dedication.

As for the game, things were back-and-forth for most of the first half and ended up tied at 23 at the intermission. Wittenberg enjoyed its largest lead of the game at 41-32 with just over three minutes remaining in the third, but Oberlin finished the quarter on a 10-2 run to come within one at the end of three at 43-42. Doing a good job of breaking the Tiger press, Oberlin outscored Witt 31-23 in the final frame to secure the victory. There were nine ties and 14 lead changes in the game. Oberlin, which played great defense and shot over 47 percent from the field, scored 34 points in the paint and made 21 points off Tiger turnovers.

It was the third loss in a row for Wittenberg, which drops to 11-12 overall and 4-8 in the NCAC. Oberlin improves to 7-16 overall and 3-9 NCAC.

Three players hit double digits offensively for Wittenberg with Madi Barnett (Cincinnati, OH / Kings) scoring a team-high 16 points, Molly Mossing (Cedarville, OH / Cedarville) added 14, and Catherine Buddenberg (Elsmere, KY / Dixie Heights) had 10. Mossing led the team in rebounds with 10. Barnett had two steals, and Buddenberg had four assists. Boyd finished the game with three points, two assists, and two rebounds, while Karlblom scored eight points with three rebounds and a steal.

Team Comparison

• The Tigers were 20-for-61 for 32.8 percent from the field, 10-for-24 for 41.7 percent, from three-point range, and 16-for-20 for 80 percent from the free-throw line.
• Oberlin was 26-for-55 for 47.3 percent from the field, 8-for-20 from three-point range for 40 percent, and 13-for-21 for 61.9 percent from the charity stripe.
• Witt had 34 rebounds, 11 assists, and 6 steals.
• Oberlin tallied 26 rebounds, 11 assists, 8 steals, and 7 blocks.

Next Up

The Tigers will host the No. 15^th-ranked Denison on Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. at Pam Evans Smith Arena.

Written By: Cindy Holbrook