Women's Hoops Falls To Oberlin In NCAC Championship Final

Greencastle, Ind. – The Wittenberg women's basketball team closed out their 2017-18 season, falling to the Oberlin College Yeowomen in the NCAC Tournament Championship game 71-39. The Tiger's come off a big win the night before, taking down nationally ranked and NCAC top-seed DePauw in the semifinal game. Wittenberg was led by freshman Kristie Kalis, scoring 19 points knocking down 8 of 15 attempts from the field and pulling down five rebounds. The Tigers wrap up the season with a 16-12 overall record, winning four of their last five games. Wittenberg played their way back to the NCAC Tournament Championship game for the first time since the 2014-15 season. The first-year duo of Kalis and Delaney Williams earned NCAC All-Tournament Team honors. Kalis put up a tournament total of 49 points, along with 14 rebounds. Williams finished her first NCAC tournament with 37 points, 13 rebounds, and 14 assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED: Wittenberg came out to a slow start in the first quarter, as Williams posted the only points for the Tigers in the first quarter. Bouncing back in the second quarter, Wittenberg outscored Oberlin 17-16, shooting almost 30 percent from the field. Kalis would tally six points off the bench for the Tigers, as Alex Kiess would score five before the break going three for three from the charity stripe. Coming out of the intermission, Wittenberg struggled to find their offense, as Kalis and Sydney Mayle combined for eight of the nine Tiger points. Kalis would take over in the fourth quarter scoring nine of her 19 and nine of the Wittenberg 11 points in the quarter. The freshman forward pulled in four of her five rebounds down the stretch in the final minutes of action. Senior Haley Dannemiller provided seven rebounds, six coming at the defensive end of the floor to go along with her three points in her final collegiate game in the red and white.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Wittenberg shot 22 percent from the field on the day, knocking down 8 of 12 from the foul line. The Tiger's pulled down 31 rebounds while scoring 18 points in the paint. Wittenberg forced 12 Oberlin turnovers which led to nine points for the Tigers offense. Wittenberg ends the season scoring 65 points per game, shooting 38 percent from the field and pulling down around 40 rebounds per contest with 12 assists.