Roundup: Three NCAC Wins Get Tigers Back On Track
The Wittenberg women's basketball team may be in the midst of a rebuilding process after losing four starters and a total of seven letterwinners off last year's North Coast Athletic Conference championship squad, but the Tigers may be rounding back into form at just the right time.
The Wittenberg women's basketball team may be in the midst of a rebuilding process after losing four starters and a total of seven letterwinners off last year's North Coast Athletic Conference championship squad, but the Tigers may be rounding back into form at just the right time. After taking their lumps while playing an outstanding nonconference schedule, Wittenberg has battled back to a 7-5 overall record, including a mark of 3-0 in the NCAC.
In defeating Denison on Dec. 3, Allegheny on Jan. 2 and Hiram on Jan. 3, Wittenberg extended its NCAC win streak to 23 straight regular season games, dating back to Feb. 2, 2002 at Allegheny. The Tigers won all 16 NCAC games a year ago and then captured three straight in the NCAC Tournament as well.
The Tigers opened the season with a win against Ohio Northern in the first round of the Kiwanis-Wittenberg Tip-Off Classic on Nov. 21 and followed that with a hard-fought defeat against nationally ranked Hope, 77-74, in the title game the next night. All five of the team's losses, including a pair to Hope, have come against teams currently receiving votes in the d3hoops.com poll.
Following the Christmas holiday, the Tigers may have found their stride, beginning with an impressive home win over perennial Ohio Athletic Conference powerhouse Wilmington on Dec. 30. In that game, senior forward Haley Warden (Loveland, Ohio/Indian Hill) posted her seventh double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds. She played the entire second half with four fouls and helped the Tigers ice the game with 10-of-10 free throw shooting.
Warden leads the Tigers with averages of 13.5 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, especially lofty figures considering she came into the season averaging 4.0 points and 3.0 rebounds per contest. Her rebounding average leads the NCAC, and she also leads the team in minutes per game and steals, and she is second in assists.
Warden has had help, with the most significant boost on offense coming from senior guard Amber Bishop (Batavia, Ohio/Batavia), the team's top returning scorer coming into the season, who is averaging 12.3 points per game in 2003-04. Bishop poured in 30 points in the losing effort against Hope in the Kiwanis-Wittenberg Tip-Off Classic title game, and she has been in double figures in eight of the team's 12 games to date.
The other story of note thus far has been the play of senior forward Geri Woessner (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood), who has returned from a major knee injury last year to appear in all 12 games in 2003-04. Coming off another strong soccer season, after which she was honored with All-NCAC and All-Great Lakes Region awards, Woessner is averaging 7.3 points and 4.9 rebounds in 22.1 minutes each time out. The scoring total is third-best on the team and the rebounding average ranks second.
Wittenberg is currently in a dead heat with preseason favorite Ohio Wesleyan in the NCAC. The two teams don't meet until Feb. 3 in Delaware, Ohio.