Roundup: Tigers Take First Seed Shortly Before the End of the Regular Season
At the start of last week, the Wittenberg women's basketball team was coming off a disappointing road loss at Allegheny that dropped the team into a tie for the NCAC lead. What a difference a week makes.
Tiffany Keller
Stephanie Campbell
At the start of last week, the Wittenberg women's basketball team was coming off a disappointing road loss at Allegheny that dropped the team into a tie for the NCAC lead. What a difference a week makes.
Strong performances at Earlham on Wednesday and back home against Wooster on Saturday, coupled with a loss by Denison at Allegheny over the weekend, propelled Wittenberg back into the driver's seat of the NCAC. The Tigers are alone in first place with just two games remaining on the regular season schedule - a road game on Wednesday at Oberlin and a Senior Day contest opposite second-place Denison on Saturday.
To recap, the Tigers outscored the host Earlham Quakers 28-10 in the first 10 minutes of the second half to break open a close game last Wednesday.From there the Tigers cruised home to win, 91-64, the third time Wittenberg has beaten Earlham this season.
The Tigers held a 44-36 lead at halftime before really turning it on. For the game, the Tigers had 38 rebounds, including a season-high 19 on the offensive end, and placed five players in double figures in scoring.In addition, Wittenberg committed a season-low 10 turnovers, with no player committing more than two in the game.
Junior forward Tiffany Keller (Massillon, Ohio/Tuslaw) led the team on offense with 14 points in just 14 minutes of action. Once again,she was sharp in her shooting, making seven of her 11 shots from the floor. Junior guards Kate Rolf (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Carroll) and Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) chipped in with 13 and 12 points respectively, while senior forward Jill Swary (Columbus, Ohio/Grandview)and sophomore forward Haley Warden (Loveland, Ohio/Indian Hill)were strong up front with 10 points apiece.
Then on Saturday, Wittenberg went down 7-0 before recovering in fine fashion. By the time the stompede had ended and the dust had cleared, Wittenberg had rallied for a record-setting 111-58 win over visiting Wooster.
Wittenberg slowly pulled away from a 15-15 tie midway through the firsthalf, putting together a 28-9 run over the final seven minutes to takea 55-34 advantage into the locker room. The second half was much more lopsided as the Tigers broke out to a huge lead and poured it on late. The final point total was a school record, breaking the 109 figure that the Tigers had posted against Earlham on Nov. 17, 2001 at the Kalamazoo Tip-Off Tournament.
Wittenberg was led by a huge game off the bench by junior forward Meghan Bruggeman (Middletown, Ohio/Fenwick), who poured in a career-high 20points in just 17 minutes. Joining Bruggeman in double figures were Rolf with 13 points, Keller with 11 points, and freshman guard Emilie Schmid(Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson) with 10 points. Wittenberg forced 44 Wooster turnovers and grabbed 25 steals, a season-best, including six by Campbell. In addition, the Tigers knocked down a school-record 34 free throws, breaking a record they had set earlier in the season against Allegheny.
As the Tigers continue their march toward the 2001-02 NCAC championship,which would be their eighth since joining the conference in 1989, Head Coach Pam Smith continues to move closer toward a personal milestone. With 297 career wins, Smith figures to reach the 300-win plateau yet this year as the Tigers have two regular season games remaining and with one more win will clinch one of the top seeds in the upcoming conference tournament, guaranteeing them home court advantage. Wittenberg is a perfect 11-0 at home this season.