Tigers Stave Off Challenge From Denison

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - Good teams find different ways to win almost every night. In college basketball, it's rare that a tried-and-true formula can't be stopped by a solid opponent, forcing good teams to show their creativity. That was the case once again Wednesday night as the Wittenberg women's basketball team got a big game from senior guard Amber Bishop (Batavia, Ohio/Batavia) and some clutch three-point shooting from senior guard Kari Kitchen (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) to ease their way past visiting Denison University, 63-53, in North Coast Athletic Conference action.

Wittenberg has now won 27 straight NCAC regular season games, dating back to Feb. 2, 2002, at Allegheny. More importantly, the Tigers have won seven straight games in 2003-04 and improved to 11-5 overall and 7-0 in the NCAC with the victory. Denison, which dropped a 50-45 home decision to the defending conference champion Tigers in December, fell to 10-6 overall and 4-3 in the conference. Wittenberg now leads the all-time series between the two teams, 39-5, and has won the last seven in a row, dating back to a 73-62 Denison win on Jan. 16, 2001.

Denison jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the game, but Wittenberg scored the next five points and never relinquished the lead again, with the exception of four ties, the last at 19-19 with 7:48 remaining in the first half. The Tigers outscored the Big Red 10-2 over the rest of the first half to take a 29-21 edge into the locker room. Bishop keyed that run with six points, and senior forward Geri Woessner (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) added four points. While the lead never went above 12 points in the second half, it also never fell below three. The key run in the entire game came after Denison's Ann Staubach hit a free throw to cut the Tiger lead to 40-37 with 10:38 remaining. Over the next two minutes, Kitchen drilled a pair of clutch three-pointers, followed by a triple by Bishop that opened the game-high 12-point lead. Down the stretch, Wittenberg maintained a comfortable margin thanks to 6-of-7 foul shooting in the final 1:25.

Wittenberg, which was outrebounded 38-33 but held a decisive 21-13 edge in turnovers, shot 39 percent from the floor, but a solid 46 percent from three-point range and an outstanding 84.6 percent from the free throw line. Bishop finished with 21 points and three rebounds and senior forward Haley Warden (Loveland, Ohio/Indian Hill) chipped in with 15 points, four rebounds and four steals. Kitchen added eight points and two rebounds in 20 excellent minutes off the bench.

Denison shot 41.8 percent from the field but hit just 2-of-12 from three-point range. Staubach was the top scorer with 14 points and seven rebound, backed by Jessica McConnell with 10 points, four boards and Kristen Sheffield with 10 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots, all in the first half. The Big Red's lack of depth proved costly as Wittenberg's reserves outscored Denison's 20-3 in the game.