Wittenberg Women’s Basketball team returned home to Pam Evans Smith Arena to host the Denison Big Red, after playing three road games, defeating Denison in spectacular fashion, ending with a final score of 68-62 in overtime.
This game was a special game because it was Alumni Day. Alumni played an exhibition game with former players before the current team played Denison.
At the conclusion of Saturday’s game, there were four different Tiger players that scored more than 10 points. They were freshmen Delaney Williams and Kristie Kalis, and juniors Alex Kiess and Amanda Raber. Kalis lead all Wittenberg scorers by recording 18 points, and grabbing 11 rebounds; this was her second double-double of the season.
Throughout the entire game, there was a battle to take momentum. The Big Red were the first team to score in the game by knocking down two 3-pointers back-to-back before the Tigers offense kicked it into gear. The largest lead in that quarter was only four points when Denison was up 8-4. Both teams took high quality shots from mid-range and inside of the paint. The first quarter ended with Wittenberg leading 12-10.
Second quarter scoring was started off by Kalis after she knocked down a 3-pointer, assisted by Raber. Wittenberg scored 11 more points to go up 23-10, and it took the majority of the second quarter for Denison to score a bucket before they cut the lead down to five points to end the half with the score 28-23.
The second half was more exciting than the first half. Denison was the first team to score again, cutting the lead down to three. This was until Wittenberg extended the lead to 13, with the score being 37-50 at end of the third quarter.
Multiple players from Denison started knocking down shots to begin the last quarter of regulation. The Big Red were able to knock down two consecutive 3-pointers to cut the lead down to five, with the score 45-50. It wasn’t until the seven-minute mark that Wittenberg scored their first points of the quarter.
The momentum of the game was slightly changed when Denison took the lead 55-54 with less than five minutes left. Denison was crashing the boards hard and knocking down shots for second chance opportunities when they had possession.
Raber continued her scoring later in the game by making a key mid-range jump shot with one-minute remaining. She was fouled on two different occasions, only being able to sink down two of four free throws to have the lead by three with the score being 58-55. Denison stunned the home crowd by drilling a 3-pointer with three seconds left. With the final ticks of regulation, Wittenberg tried to win with a 3-point shot, but the attempt missed.
Overtime was just as dramatic as the fourth quarter was. Again, Denison was the first team to score and they scored with less than four minutes left. Wittenberg fought hard to tie the game back up, and they were able to score with Kiess and Kalis making free throws.
The Big Red took the lead for the last time with two minutes remaining, with the score 62-61 before Williams scored the last six points for Wittenberg. Williams was able to score by making two key layups, her final layup being assisted by senior Haley Dannemiller.
Danemiller was soon fouled following her assist, making a free throw with nine seconds left. Denison was only down by four points. Danemiller then made a great block that stopped Denison from scoring and cutting the lead to a single bucket. The game ended by Williams making her last two free throws.
The Women’s Basketball team has three consecutive road games before coming back to to play Ohio Wesleyan on Valentine’s Day.
