Tigers Can't Find Range in Loss to Ranked Hope in Tourney Title Game
The Wittenberg Tigers have taken their shots at the best that the Great Lakes Region has to offer in women's basketball, and the results have been encouraging. But for a team with greater aspirations than another North Coast Athletic Conference title, there is no such thing as a moral victory, especially after a cold-shooting 63-47 loss to Hope College in the championship game of the Subway Shootout on Hope's campus.
HOLLAND, Mich. - The Wittenberg Tigers have taken their shots at the best that the Great Lakes Region has to offer in women's basketball, and the results have been encouraging. But for a team with greater aspirations than another North Coast Athletic Conference title, there is no such thing as a moral victory, especially after a cold-shooting 63-47 loss to Hope College in the championship game of the Subway Shootout on Hope's campus.
The result was the same as it was two weeks earlier when the Flying Dutch, who haven't lost a regular season game in nearly two years, defeated Wittenberg 77-74 in the championship game of the Kiwanis-Wittenberg Tip-Off Classic. The Tigers have played seven games in the 2003-04 season, and all three that were against nationally ranked teams have resulted in losses. The difference this time was that Wittenberg was unable to mount any kind of a comeback after falling behind by as much as 15 in the first half and 17 in the second half. In the first meeting between the two teams, the Tigers mounted furious rallies to close both halves, taking a one-point lead into the halftime break and then coming up just short in the second half as the Flying Dutch made just enough free throws to keep the host team at bay.
In this game, Wittenberg made just 20 percent of its shots in the second half and 29 percent overall for the game, matching the previous night's shooting percentages in a 51-49 win over Savannah College of Art and Design. The difference was that SCAD is 1-5 this season and was outrebounded badly by the Tigers. Hope, with a group of outstanding, experienced interior players, didn't give Wittenberg nearly as many opportunities, although the Tigers did close the rebounding gap compared to the first game and grabbed 16 offensive boards. Senior guard Amber Bishop (Batavia, Ohio/Batavia) led the way with 10 points and five rebounds and senior forward Haley Warden (Loveland, Ohio/Indian Hill) and junior guard Emilie Schmid (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson) added eight points apiece.
Hope got 15 points and six rebounds from Linda Ebels and nine points and 11 rebounds from Adelynn Vilmann, the team's top two post players. The Flying Dutch, who were 31-1 overall a year ago, improved to 6-0 on the season while Wittenberg fell to 4-3 overall.