Wittenberg Streaks Past Hiram
Four minutes into the game, the Wittenberg Tigers picked things up and essentially put away the visiting Hiram Terriers, breaking a 6-6 tie with a 27-4 run that led to a 74-51 North Coast Athletic Conference victory.
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - Four minutes into the game, the Wittenberg Tigers picked things up and essentially put away the visiting Hiram Terriers, breaking a 6-6 tie with a 27-4 run that led to a 74-51 North Coast Athletic Conference victory.
With their second win in less than 24 hours, the Tigers improved to 8-5 overall and, more importantly, 5-0 in the NCAC. Heading into Wednesday's game at Earlham, the Tigers have a one-game lead on defending regular season champion Kenyon, which dropped a 63-61 decision at Denison on Friday. Hiram dropped to 5-6 overall and 0-4 in the NCAC.
Wittenberg led 46-25 at halftime and stretched the advantage to 23 points early in the second half. Substituting liberally throughout the game, the Tigers were never in any danger of losing the lead but also never quite put it out of reach. Hiram was limited to 35 percent shooting from the field and harrassed into 26 turnovers, and as a result the Terriers were unable to put together enough of a run to take advantage of a five-minute Wittenberg scoreless drought midway through the second half.
The Tigers showed their depth, as sophomore post Katie Gregorevich enjoyed her first double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds, both personal season- and team game-highs. Junior post Kathy Hittle, the team leader in scoring and rebounding, finished with 10 points and five rebounds in just 13 minutes. Freshman wing Rachel Dixon added nine points on 4-of-6 shooting in 16 minutes off the bench.
Hiram, which lost at Earlham by four on Friday, picked up 15 points from Cassie Bedard and 10 points from Abbey Gorby. The Terriers didn't have a player with more than five rebounds in the game as they were beaten on the glass by a whopping 54-32 margin.