Tigers Move Into Second Place With Win Over Allegheny
The Wittenberg Tigers put the finishing touches on a very productive weekend with a thorough 71-47 victory over the visiting Allegheny Gators.
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tigers put the finishing touches on a very productive weekend with a thorough 71-47 victory over the visiting Allegheny Gators.
The win moves Wittenberg into a second-place tie in the North Coast Athletic Conference with Ohio Wesleyan, a full four games behind unbeaten Denison. The Tigers won for the third time in four games and improved to 11-9 overall and 8-4 in the NCAC. Allegheny, which narrowly escaped with a win at Earlham Friday, dropped to 14-7 overall but 8-5 in the conference. The Gators have dropped a pair to Wittenberg this year.
The Tigers jumped out to a 9-3 lead in the opening three minutes and never looked back. The lead slowly expanded to 35-25 by halftime and the Tigers answered every challenge over the final 20 minutes. The final 24-point margin was the largest of the game, thanks to a game-ending five-point burst.
Three Tiger players found their way into double figures offensively, led by junior post Katie Gregorevich (Northfield, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit), who had 18 points and six rebounds. She finished the week with a whopping 60 points after hitting for 20 at Kenyon on Tuesday and tying a career-high with 22 points against Hiram on Friday.
Senior post Kathy Hittle (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) added 12 points and four rebounds in 16 minutes as she was limited by foul trouble. Senior guard Andrea Hackett (Springfield, Ohio/Catholic Central) chipped in with a career-high-tying 11 points to go along with three steals and two assists.
The Tiger offense was potent on back-to-back days in part because bench players stepped up as well, a necessity considering the fact that four key players remain sidelined by injury currently. Among the notables on Saturday, senior guard Tosha Johnson (Cincinnati, Ohio/North College Hill) contributed four points, two rebounds and two assists in 14 quality minutes, and junior post Ali Rohlfs (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) added six points, five assists and five rebounds in perhaps her finest performance of the 2006-07 season.
Allegheny was paced by Katie Kestler with 10 points and four rebounds. The Gators were beaten on the boards to the tune of 41-25 and were forced into 18 turnovers, six more than Wittenberg committed. The Tigers shot 45 percent from the field in the game, compared to 36 percent for Allegheny.