Roundup: NCAC Race Drawing Towards Finish Line
The Wittenberg University women's basketball team is in the driver's seat to win a third straight North Coast Athletic Conference regular season championship. But the Tigers know they must finish strong, starting with a difficult road game against second-place Allegheny on Friday night, to claim that trophy again.
The Wittenberg University women's basketball team is in the driver's seat to win a third straight North Coast Athletic Conference regular season championship. But the Tigers know they must finish strong, starting with a difficult road game against second-place Allegheny on Friday night, to claim that trophy again.
In the last week, Wittenberg won two more games to run its 2003-04 win streak to 11 straight, dating back to a Dec. 20 loss to Thomas More, and its NCAC regular season win streak to 31 straight, dating back to a Feb. 2, 2002 loss at Allegheny. The Tigers are now 15-5 overall and 11-0 after defeating Oberlin at home on Saturday and preseason favorite Ohio Wesleyan on the road on Tuesday.
Against Oberlin, the Tigers battled through a tight first half to pull away from the visiting Yeowomen, 67-47, on Saturday at the HPER Center. The Tigers did it by getting contributions from a variety of players in an outstanding second half.
The lead changed hands eight times in the first half until the Tigers scored the final five points before the intermission - a three-pointer by senior guard Kari Kitchen (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) with 1:58 remaining and a layup by junior guard Emilie Schmid (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson) just before the buzzer. Wittenberg then took control in the second half, outscoring the visitors 37-22, thanks in large part to 50 percent shooting from the field.
The Tigers shot 44 percent for the game, compared to 33 percent for the Yeowomen, and both teams struggled with their ballhandling with 23 Oberlin turnovers and 21 Wittenberg turnovers. Wittenberg won the battle of the boards 44-36.
Senior forward Haley Warden (Loveland, Ohio/Indian Hill) led all scorers with 13 points, followed by Schmid, who nearly had her first career double-double as she finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. Also of note were the performances by senior guard Amber Bishop (Batavia, Ohio/Batavia) with eight points and six assists and senior guard Christina Fischer (Norwood, Ohio/Cincinnati St. Ursula) with five points and five assists.
On Tuesday in Delaware, Ohio, the Tigers pulled out a 66-59 victory over preseason favorite Ohio Wesleyan.
The Tigers claimed a 31-29 lead by halftime, in part thanks to Bishop's 19 points. She added eight more in the second half, and she got a huge assist from Warden, who scored 16 of her career-high-tying 23 points in the final 20 minutes. She added a career-high 19 rebounds, which was a season-high for the Tigers as a team and the third highest total in school history.
With the duo of Bishop and Warden scoring 50 of the Tigers' 66 points driving the offense, a total team effort held 2003 NCAC Player of the Year Kelly Heil to 15 points on 6-of-19 shooting and a team-high nine rebounds. That's nearly six below her scoring average.