NASHVILLE, TN – Despite leading for most of the first half, the Williams Ephs (5-6, 0-0 NESCAC) fell to the Wittenberg Tigers (6-5, 1-2 NCAC), 61-52, after a 23-0 Tigers run that spanned more than half of the second half.
The Ephs led 16-10 after the first quarter and 35-28 after the half, but after guard
Maggie Meehan '22 scored a layup to open the second half, the Tigers held the Ephs scoreless for the rest of the third quarter, scoring 17 points and taking a 45-37 lead. The Tigers scored six more consecutive points to open the fourth quarter before guard
Devin Biesbrock '23 ended the Wittenberg run with a jump shot with 6:54 to play.
"In the second half, their energy was just greater than ours was," admitted Eph head coach
Pat Manning following the defeat. "I give Wittenberg a lot of credit; they just worked harder and played harder than we did."
Forward
Maddy Mandyck '23 paced the Ephs with a 19-point, 13-rebound double-double. Mandyck was the only Eph to score in double figures, as Meehan, who fouled out halfway into the fourth quarter, was second on the team with eight points. Forward
Izzy Sullivan '25 tallied a season-high seven rebounds, and guard
Cortland McBarron '25 provided a spark off the bench with four points on two shots.
Guard Abigail Yunker led the Tigers with 18 points on 7 for 10 shooting, and forward Jade Simpson recorded a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
After fighting to a 10-10 tie, the Ephs finished the first quarter on a 6-0 run which they extended to 8-0 at the beginning of the second quarter, courtesy of two free throws by forward
Mia Holtze '23. Wittenberg rallied to tie the game at 23, but Williams then went on a 12-5 run, on which six different Ephs scored, to close the half.
The second half, however, was a different story. The Tigers' second-half run began with layups on five consecutive possessions, the last of which resulted in a three-point play for Simpson and put the Tigers up for good at 39-37. A layup by Simpson, two free throws by Yunker, and a layup by forward Delaney Williams made it 45-37 at the end of the third quarter.
After another three-point play by guard Jaida Malone, forward Kristie Kallis hit a three-pointer, the first of the Wittenberg run, to make it 23 straight points for the Tigers. The Ephs didn't come within double digits until less than a minute remained.
Though the Ephs shot 21 for 58 (36.2%) overall, they were just 8 for 30 (26.7%) in the second half and didn't manage a single three-pointer all game, going 0 for 8 from beyond the arc. The Tigers didn't fare much better, shooting 25 for 62 (40.3%) from the field, but went 4 for 12 (33.3%) from deep and 7 for 9 (77.8%) from the line.
Williams was outrebounded 41-36 and turned the ball over 21 times compared to 19 for Wittenberg, but the Tigers' biggest advantage was their play in transition.
"It came down to us taking poor shots, and that enabled them to run," said Manning. "Our transition D wasn't good enough, and we didn't stay organized enough in our offense."
Tomorrow at 1PM CT, the Ephs will play their second and final game of the Nashville Tournament against Trine (8-1), who is ranked 7
th in NCAA Division III women's basketball.
