SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - February 6, 2022 – Madison Branch became the ninth Terrier in Hiram women's basketball program history to join the 1,000-point club, but it wasn't enough as Hiram fell to the Wittenberg University Tigers, 75-58 on Sunday at Pam Evans Smith Arena.
 
Maddie Rakestraw gave Hiram an early 3-0 lead, knocking down a triple 48 seconds into the first quarter. The Terriers proceeded to hold the Tigers off the scoreboard for almost five minutes, opening up an early 5-0 lead on Wittenberg's home floor.
 
Back-to-back buckets by Wittenberg cut into Hiram's lead before Branch made a pair of free throws, the first of which gave her 1,000 career points.
 
Hiram and Wittenberg went back-and-forth for much of the rest of the quarter, before six-straight, a jumper by Ella Dukarm and a layup and two made free throws by Cici Bright, made it a five-point Hiram lead.
 
Two free throws by Lauren Legate though, cut Hiram's lead down to 17-14, after one, and the Tigers then reeled off 10 straight to open the second quarter and take the lead.
 
Down by seven, Hiram closed the gap to three on a three-pointer by Dukarm, and pulled within one on a pair of made free throws by Taylor Valaitis. The Terriers kept things close the rest of the way before a pair of free throws gave Wittenberg a 30-27 lead at the half.
 
Hiram answered Wittenberg's second-quarter run with a run of their own in the third, quickly tying things up at 30 on Branch's fastbreak layup and Rakestraw's jumper.
 
Another pair of buckets by Branch and Rakestraw made it 34-30, as the Terriers used a 9-0 to take their first lead of the second half.
 
The Terriers led by as many as six, but up 39-35, the Tigers answered with a run of their own, holding Hiram to just two points the rest of the third, and scoring 19 of the next 21 points to take a 54-41 lead into the final frame.
 
And although the Terriers twice brought Wittenberg's lead back down to single digits, on jumpers by Bright and Haley Thompson with 6:11 to play, Wittenberg used a 12-2 run to pull away and solidify their eventual 75-58 victory.
 
Hiram falls to 6-14 (2-10 NCAC) with the loss, with the Tigers sweep the season series and move to 10-7 (6-4 NCAC) on the year.
 
Branch led Hiram with 15 points and now sits at 1,014 career points. Thompson joined Branch in double figures with 12 points, while Selena Vargas added a team-high eight rebounds.
 
The Terriers next return home to Price Gymnasium to open a three-game home stretch, beginning with a matchup against the Denison Big Red on Wednesday, Feb. 9 at 6 p.m.