Wittenberg Runs Away From Kenyon, 64-35

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - It was expected to be a tough battle for first place in the North Coast Athletic Conference. It wound up a surprising rout in favor of the homestanding Wittenberg Tigers as they won going away, 64-35.

Wittenberg improved to 8-6 overall and 4-1 in the NCAC after winning for the third straight time in 2004-05. The Tigers improved to 33-2 all-time against the Ladies. Kenyon dropped to 11-3 overall and 5-1 in the conference, just one-half game ahead of the three-time defending regular season champion Tigers.

At the 16:34 mark of the first half, a trend was set. Wittenberg freshman post Katie Gregorevich scored on a jumper in the lane to give Wittenberg a 4-2 lead, an advantage they would never relinquish, instead building upon it throughout the game. That started a 6-0 Gregorevich run that jumpstarted her toward a career-high 22 points and nine rebounds, both also game high marks. Wittenberg slowly extended the lead to 26-19 by halftime and then an 8-2 run to open the second half effectively stunned the Ladies and spurred the Tigers on to the win.

Gregorevich was the only Wittenberg player to reach double figures in scoring, but by game's end 14 Tiger players saw action and 12 found their way into the scoring column. Among the standouts in the postgame boxscore were sophomore post Kathy Hittle with seven points and nine rebounds and freshman post Ali Rohlfs with seven points and seven boards. For the game, the Tigers shot a respectable 40 percent, including a blistering 58 percent from the field in the second half alone. The key, along with a strong second half offensively, was rebounding as the Tigers won that battle by a whopping 44-31 margin.

Kenyon picked up 12 points from Allison Lebar, but the Ladies managed just 33 percent shooting, including a 3-of-19 mark from three-point range. Add in a 2-of-6 performance from the free throw line, and a 26-10 Kenyon lead in total turnovers, and the night was complete. Wittenberg wound up outscoring Kenyon 30-7 in points off turnovers and 38-18 in the paint. Also, the Tigers outscored the Ladies 39-9 in bench points.