HIRAM, OHIO  --  The Hiram College women's basketball team was defeated by Wittenberg University, 59-43, in a North Coast Athletic Conference game at Price Gymnasium.

Wittenberg (7-4, 2-1 NCAC) opened the game with a three-pointer and never trailed in the first half, or the game.  The Tigers led by a point, 14-13, following a jumper by Hiram (4-8, 0-3 NCAC) junior guard Taylor Ratliff (Berea/Columbia) and then went on an 8-0 scoring run to increase the lead to nine points, 22-13, with 5:27 left in the half.  Wittenberg went on to lead by as many as 13 points, but the Terriers narrowed the gap to single figures thanks to four free-throws by Ratliff in the final minute to make the score 30-21 at halftime.

In the second half, Wittenberg quickly extended its lead back to double figures in the early minutes and gradually began to pull away.  The Tigers maintained a double digit margin for the majority of the period and posted their largest lead of the game of 20 points, 54-34, with 4:32 left in the contest.  Hiram then went on an ensuing 8-0 run that was capped by one of two free-throws by senior guard Danielle Day (Newbury) to make the score 54-42, but that would be as close as the Terriers would get down the stretch as Wittenberg went on to post the 59-43 victory.

Wittenberg shot 29.1 percent (16-of-55) from the field, including 25.0 percent (four-of-16) from three-point range.  The difference would come at the free-throw line as the Tigers took 28 attempts, converting 23 for 82.1 percent.  Individually, Amber Rice led the way with a game-high 14 points.  The duo of Heather Schroeder and Katelyn Haralamos rounded out the high scorers with 13 points each.

Hiram ended the game shooting 26.4 percent (14-of-53) overall and just 11.8 percent (two-of-17) from behind the arc.  The Terriers had one player in double figures in Day who scored 12 points on five-of-11 shooting (45.5 percent).  Senior All-NCAC guard/forward Alexis Kemper (Centerville) was second in scoring with nine points and grabbed seven rebounds.  In addition, freshman forward Brianne Goodrich (Chesterland/West Geauga) grabbed a game-tying high nine boards.

Hiram will host No. 1 nationally-ranked DePauw (Ind.) University tomorrow (Saturday, Jan. 4) in a NCAC game at Price Gymnasium.  The game is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.