Roundup: Difficult Schedule Leads To Slow Start
The Wittenberg women's basketball team is still trying to find its way after losing five seniors in each of the last two seasons. Through the first two weeks of the 2004-05 season, the Tigers are off to a 1-3 start while playing a difficult schedule that culminated with a home loss on Saturday against nationally ranked Capital.
The Wittenberg women's basketball team is still trying to find its way after losing five seniors in each of the last two seasons. Through the first two weeks of the 2004-05 season, the Tigers are off to a 1-3 start while playing a difficult schedule that culminated with a home loss on Saturday against nationally ranked Capital.
The season opened with a 63-53 loss to Howard Payne in the first game of the Southwestern University Tipoff Tournament. The Tigers never led in the game, but they were never out of it either. The largest lead in the game was 11 points, but Wittenberg also couldn't close the gap inside of five points in the second half.
Several statistical differences stand out in the postgame analysis. The Tigers committed 25 turnovers and were outrebounded, 44-38, giving their foe far too many offensive opportunities. Those were cashed in many times at the free throw line as the Tigers were whistled for 11 more fouls, leading to a decisive 18-9 advantage at the charity stripe for Howard Payne.
Freshman post Ali Rohlfs (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) led the Tigers with 11 points in her first collegiate appearance and sophomore post Kathy Hittle (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) had a solid game with eight points and a team-high eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Megan Miller (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) came off the bench to hit for 10 points.
In the final game of the Southwestern Tournament, the Tigers rebounded well for a 65-48 win over McMurry.
Wittenberg never trailed in this game, and after pushing the lead out to 10 points less than 10 minutes into the first half. The lead slowly expanded to as much as 19 points in the late-going. The Tigers spread the wealth and put three players in double figures offensively. Miller threw in a career-high 17 points in her first career start, and she was placed on the all-tournament team.
Rohlfs was solid again, contributing 14 points and seven rebounds, and sophomore point guard Andrea Hackett (Springfield, Ohio/Catholic Central) provided a spark off the bench with a career-high 10 points in 22 minutes of action. Wittenberg outrebounded McMurry by a whopping 45-31 margin, led by junior Joyce Dindo (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) off the bench with a game-high six boards.
Against Baldwin-Wallace, the Tigers fell behind by double digits in the opening minutes, and a furious second-half rally fell short in a 72-62 loss. The Tigers shot just 32 percent from the field and were outrebounded 21-11 in the first half as they fell behind 39-27 by halftime. In the second half, Wittenberg evened up the rebounding category, but the Tigers still shot just 31 percent from the field and made a 12-of-23 showing at the free throw line.
B-W shot just 33 percent in the final 20 minutes, however, and the lead shrunk to five on a wild three-pointer by Miller with 26 seconds left. However, the Yellow Jackets scored the final five points. Hittle finished with a team-high 15 points and added five rebounds, but no one else reached double figures for the Tigers. Rohlfs finished with eight points and a team-high six rebounds as 13 players appeared in the game for the Tigers and 11 of them played 13 minutes or more. Miller was one of three players with seven points, and senior guard Alison Nahrup (Loveland, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) had a decent all-around game with four points, four steals, two assists and two rebounds.
Rounding things out, the Tigers dropped a 67-53 decision to sixth-ranked Capital University at the HPER Center on Saturday as another furious second-half rally fell short. For the second straight game, Wittenberg won the second half battle but ultimately lost the war after spotting the Crusaders a 48-22 halftime lead.
After shooting just 25 percent and committing 18 turnovers in the first half, the Tigers looked rejevunated in the final 20 minutes. Wittenberg whittled the lead down to 11 points with five minutes remaining and even had a possession to cut it to single digits, but it wasn't to be. Wittenberg held a 48-32 rebounding advantage for the game, and the Tigers collected a whopping 25 offensive caroms.
Wittenberg was led by Miller, who scored 12 points. Hittle played well in the post, finishing with eight points, 11 rebounds and a career-high three blocked shots, and freshman guard Ellie Stonecash (Springboro, Ohio/Middletown Fenwick) added eight points in 13 minutes off the bench.