Wittenberg Clinches North Coast Athletic Conference Championship With Win Over Wooster
Ever since the calendar flipped to 2003, the Wittenberg University women’s basketball team has been perfect. Fourteen straight victories, all against North Coast Athletic Conference opponents in the Year 2003, have produced a ninth NCAC regular season championship since the Tigers joined the league prior to the 1988-89 season.
WOOSTER, Ohio - Ever since the calendar flipped to 2003, the Wittenberg University women's basketball team has been perfect. Fourteen straight victories, all against North Coast Athletic Conference opponents in the Year 2003, have produced a ninth NCAC regular season championship since the Tigers joined the league prior to the 1988-89 season.
The clincher came Saturday afternoon at the College of Wooster, where the Tigers romped again by a final score of 66-51. The win improved Wittenberg to 19-4 overall and 14-0 in the NCAC with one week remaining in the regular season. The Tigers, who close the campaign with home games against Oberlin at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19, and Denison at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22, do not have a challenger within three games in the loss column with just a pair of contests remaining.
The Tigers are now shooting for a third perfect NCAC regular season since 1994-95, and their first since completing the 1995-96 campaign with a perfect 16-0 mark. Against Wooster, the usual suspects who continually lead the team to victories were at it again. Senior guard Kate Rolf (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Carroll) led the way with 17 points, her best offensive effort in several weeks, and added a career-high 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. Senior guard Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) added 15 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals in an outstanding all-around effort. In addition, junior forward Haley Warden (Loveland, Ohio/Indian Hill) chipped in with 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
The Tigers are coached by Pam Smith (Wittenberg, 1982), who continues to add to her phenomenal coaching legacy. Her teams have put together 14 consecutive winning season, and she has a career record of 320-131 in 17 years at the helm of her alma mater's women's basketball program. Smith also serves as associate athletic director and senior woman administrator at Wittenberg.