Roundup: Conference Action A Welcome Event
The Wittenberg women's basketball team has made a habit of getting into gear at just the right moment. In each of the last three years, the Tigers have rallied from early-season struggles against a top-flight nonconference schedule to go on January win streaks and win the North Coast Athletic Conference regular season titles.
The Wittenberg women's basketball team has made a habit of getting into gear at just the right moment. In each of the last three years, the Tigers have rallied from early-season struggles against a top-flight nonconference schedule to go on January win streaks and win the North Coast Athletic Conference regular season titles.
This season is shaping up much the same way as the Tigers have reeled off three straight wins in NCAC action after dropping a 65-61 decision against nationally ranked DePauw on Jan. 3. Wins over Hiram, Allegheny and Kenyon in the last five days have moved the Tigers to within a half-game of the conference lead and records of 8-6 overall and 4-1 in the NCAC.
The biggest win was undoubtedly Wednesday's 64-35 drubbing of Kenyon, which was previously unbeaten in conference play.
Wittenberg took an early lead, slowly opened it up to 26-19 by halftime and then ran away in the final 20 minutes, outscoring the Ladies, 38-16, in the second half. Freshman post Katie Gregorevich (Northfield, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) was the only Wittenberg player to reach double figures in scoring, finishing with a career-high 22 points and also a career-high nine rebounds.
By game's end, 14 Tiger players saw action and 12 found their way into the scoring column, including sophomore post Kathy Hittle (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) with seven points and nine rebounds and freshman post Ali Rohlfs (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) with seven points and seven boards. For the game, the Tigers shot a blistering 58 percent in the second half and outrebounded their visitors, 44-31.
The Tigers took a huge step forward on Saturday with a 66-55 victory over homestanding Allegheny, last season's conference regular season and tournament runner-up.
Wittenberg trailed for much of the early part of the game before a 13-2 Tiger run late in the first half to take control. During that burst, Wittenberg got six points from instant-offense freshman guard Ellie Stonecash (Springboro, Ohio/Middletown Fenwick). After leading by nine at halftime, the Tigers slowly pulled away in the final 20 minutes, getting 11 points along the way from senior guard Emilie Schmid (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson).
Schmid finished with 15 points, just one off the team lead established by Gregorevich, who topped the Tigers with 16 points and nine rebounds. Stonecash had a career-high 10 points in just 13 minutes off the bench, Hittle was steady with eight points and seven rebounds, and Rohlfs added six points, four assists, three steals and three rebounds.
Wittenberg kicked the weekend off with a convincing 77-45 road win at Hiram on Friday. An 8-0 early in the first half kickstarted the Tigers, as they slowly moved out to a 39-25 lead by halftime and then played a tremendous second half, outscoring their hosts 38-20.
The Tigers put all 16 players who suited up into the game and 15 of them scored. Seven different players scored between six and nine points, led by junior guard Carrie Jones (Greenville, Ohio/Greenville) with nine off the bench. Hittle, sophomore post Rachel Clark-Haggy (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) and sophomore post Denita Braziel (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) all finished with eight points, and junior post Joyce Dindo (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) was high for either team with eight rebounds.
The Tigers have a pair of big games in the next week, starting with Saturday's road trip to Wooster, which is tied with Wittenberg at 4-1 in the NCAC. The Tigers his the road again on Wednesday with a game against another contender, Denison, which pulled off a four-point win in Springfield early in the season to break a nearly three-year Tiger conference win streak.