Tigers claw past Muskingum women’s basketball

The Wittenberg Tigers used a 39-13 bench-point advantage to claw past the Muskingum women's basketball team on Tuesday night, 80-61.

The Basics 

• Records: Muskingum (1-10 overall), Wittenberg (5-5 overall) 
• Location: New Concord, Ohio – Anne C. Steele

Inside the Numbers 

• Junior Devyn Bonner fueled the Muskies with 21 points, shooting 7-of-9 (77.8%) from the field and 7-of-12 (58.3%) at the free throw line.
• Sophomore Sam Filiaggi chipped in nine points, while freshman Olivia Lang added eight. 
• Sophomore Alivia Bates produced seven rebounds. 
• Muskingum ended the contest shooting 21-of-49 (42.9%) from the field, which included hitting 6-of-13 (46.2%) from behind the arc.
• Kristie Kalis led the Tigers with a double-double. Kalis notched 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
• The Tigers had three players who registered double-digit points.
• Wittenberg ended the contest shooting 26-of-61 (42.6%) in the field and 21-of-34 (61.8%) from the free throw line. 

Game Highlights 

In the first two minutes of the contest, the Muskies tallied back-to-back buckets to take an early 5-0 lead. Wittenberg locked in a 9-3 run to slide past Muskingum with a score of 9-8. Sophomore Kacie Leppla cashed in a layup to slow down Wittenberg's momentum. The Muskies answered and took an 11-10 edge into the second quarter. The contest remained tight until the Tigers rattled off eight points in a row to advance past the Muskies with a score of 20-14. Muskingum fought to trim the deficit, but the Tigers were able to fend them off. The score read 38-31 at the half. 

Early in the third quarter, the Muskies fought to close the gap. Sophomore Hannah Carroll fired in a pair of free throws to trim the advantage to 46-40. However,  Wittenberg generated a 10-7 run to stretch its lead to 56-47 going into the fourth quarter. At the 9:19 marker of the final frame, freshman Erica Hyre opened up scoring with a three-pointer to lessen the lead for the Tigers. The Muskies sliced away at the deficit but Wittenberg slowly pulled away from the Muskies en route to the road victory.   

Up Next 

• The Muskies next play at Ohio Athletic Conference rival Marietta on Saturday, December 29. Game time is slated for 7:00 p.m.