Women's Basketball re-captures first place with huge win over defending NCAC champ Ohio Wesleyan
Just less than three minutes into Saturday's game, Wittenberg University junior guard Stephanie Campbell scored on a short jumper to give Wittenberg a 5-3 lead. Little did she or the rest of the more than 500 people in attendance at the HPER Center on Saturday afternoon know that they all could have departed at that point. Wittenberg took that lead and expanded it, then held on to defeat defending North Coast Athletic Conference champion Ohio Wesleyan, 66-60.
SPRINGFIELD, OHIO - Just less than three minutes into Saturday's game, Wittenberg University junior guard Stephanie Campbell scored on a short jumper to give Wittenberg a 5-3 lead. Little did she or the rest of the more than 500 people in attendance at the HPER Center on Saturday afternoon know that they all could have departed at that point. Wittenberg took that lead and expanded it, then held on to defeat defending North Coast Athletic Conference champion Ohio Wesleyan, 66-60.
While the Tigers led the game for 37 of its 40 minutes, it was by no means easy. Wittenberg took a 33-25 lead into the locker room at halftime and moved it out to 12 points on a layup by junior center Rebecca Meers with 6:03 remaining in the game. From that point, the Battling Bishops, an NCAA Division III Final Four team that took the measure of the Tigers two weeks ago in Delaware 74-72, put on a furious charge that came up just short.
As usual, it was a trio of juniors leading the way for Wittenberg, which claimed sole possession of first place in the NCAC with the win at 8-1. Junior forward Tiffany Keller, the NCAC Player of the Week last week, had her fifth straight game in double figures with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line, Campbell finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and junior guard Kate Rolf hit for 17 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.
For Ohio Wesleyan, Kelly Heil led all scorers with 21 points and Mindy Hammond was strong inside wth 17 points. But the Bishops were outrebounded 44-32 and shot 13-of-22 from the free throw line, opposed to 13-of-16 for Wittenberg.
The win improved Wittenberg to 13-4 overall and 8-1 in the NCAC, while OWU dropped to 12-6 overall and 9-2 in the NCAC. The Tigers' are back in action on Tuesday against Kenyon, a game that will be broadcast on WBLY AM 1600 in Springfield and telecast on tape delay by Time Warner Cable in Dayton.