TIFFIN -- Seiberling Gymnasium was electric tonight as the Heidelberg University women's basketball team hosted Wittenberg. In what was a back and forth contest, HU fought to the end but was unable to pull out the victory in a 54-52 defeat. 

Though 10 individuals scored points, Elisha Carter's career-high 14 points off the bench led the Student Princes.  Bailey Walter was a point shy of her second double-double of the young campaign, finishing with nine points and 13 rebounds.  

Freshman Sequoia Bradley started out gameplay for Heidelberg with a jumper off of an offensive rebound from Taylor Ratliff. The Student Princes would be held scoreless until a pair of free throws from Walter with 5:48 left in the quarter. Two more from the charity stripe from Maciaha Irving with 25 seconds left closed out the first with the home team down 17-10. 

In the second quarter, Heidelberg was unable to find points from the field until 5:09 when Elisha Carter slipped in a layup. From that point, HU would go on an 11-4 run consisting of four more from Carter, a jumper from Cheyanne Bean and a 3-pointer from Ashley Ballard. Matching Wittenberg's 13 points, they closed out the half down 30-23. 

Walter found the bottom of the net first with a layup off of a Bean assist a minute into the third quarter. Later, Bradley would sink a 3-pointer, eliciting a roar from the electric home crowd. Heidelberg would tally four more free throws and a strong Carter left hand layup, ending the third quarter down 46-34. 

As they have shown in each of the previous three games of the season, the Student Princes took off on a successful 18-8 fourth quarter run. In the first 'Berg possession, Alyssa Martin dished a pass to Carter who took a hard drive into the basket on a successful and-one play – just 30 seconds in. The next trip down the court Walter found an offensive rebound which she turned into two more points, cutting the gap to seven with 8:49 to play. To cap off the 8-0 run, Walter again found a huge offensive rebound where she went up between three Tigers to draw a foul making a three-point play. 

Riding a wave of momentum, Morgan Altenburger drove from the top and, with a clean Euro-step, sank a layup with 6:45. Later, Martin took a hook shot from a Walter pass, slicing the Wittenberg lead to a mere two points. With 2:18 on the clock, Hallie Rogers sank two at the line for the first tie of the game. 

After a step-back jumper by Wittenberg's Evie Wolshire and missed 3-pointer for Heidelberg with less than a minute left, HU was forced to foul. Wittenberg sank one for a 53-50 lead with 34 seconds left. Carter kept them within striking range with one last layup. 

At the other end, the Tigers split a pair from the line and led 54-52.  Following their last time out, Heidelberg rotated the ball around, but a turn-around jumper from Rogers drew back iron.  Taylor Ratliff corralled the loose ball but was unable to put up a shot as the clock ran dry. 

The Berg won the battle of the boards, out rebounding the Tigers, 41-30. The Heidelberg bench outpaced their counterparts, 34-6.  

Heidelberg will be back in action next Tuesday following nearly a week off as they will travel to Bluffton University. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m.