Tigers Prepare For Kiwanis-Wittenberg Tip-Off Classic
The Wittenberg women's basketball team welcomes an outstanding field of four teams for the annual Kiwanis-Wittenberg Tip-Off Classic. This year's competition is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 21, and Saturday, Nov. 22, at Wittenberg's HPER Center. Women's games are scheduled for 1 and 3 p.m. on Friday and 1 and 6 p.m. on Saturday.
The Wittenberg women's basketball team welcomes an outstanding field of four teams for the annual Kiwanis-Wittenberg Tip-Off Classic. This year's competition is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 21, and Saturday, Nov. 22, at Wittenberg's HPER Center. Women's games are scheduled for 1 and 3 p.m. on Friday and 1 and 6 p.m. on Saturday.
Women's tournament participants for 2003 include Hope College from Hope, Mich., the State University of New York at Brockport (Brockport State), Ohio Northern University from Ada, Ohio, and Wittenberg. Action gets underway Friday at 1 p.m. as Hope and Brockport State square off, followed by a game between the host Tigers and Ohio Northern at 3 p.m. or 30 minutes following the conclusion of the first game. On Saturday, action opens with the consolation game at 1 p.m. and the championship game at 6 p.m. Wittenberg has won nine of the 17 title games in the women's competition history, although the Tigers have fallen in the final three of the last four years, including 2002 when Otterbein took the top prize.
The women's tournament includes three teams that advanced to the 2003 NCAA Division III Tournament. Hope posted a 31-1 record a year ago as the Flying Dutch claimed first place in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association regular season standings and tournament competition. Brockport State finished 21-8 a year ago and won the SUNYAC tournament title. Ohio Northern finished 7-18 last year while competing in the extremely competitive Ohio Athletic Conference.
The host Tigers went 24-5 en route to the 2003 North Coast Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles. They return just one starter, point guard Christina Fischer (Norwood, Ohio/Cincinnati St. Ursula), but the team will still have a veteran feel to it, with a projected starting lineup of five seniors. The top returning scorer is guard Amber Bishop (Batavia, Ohio/Batavia).