Fast Start Carries Tigers Past Bethany In Fred Raizk Thanksgiving Tournament
The Wittenberg Tigers took advantage of a fast start and made use of a deep bench to produce a 75-50 victory in the first round of Wilmington College's Fred Raizk Thanksgiving Tournament.
WILMINGTON, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tigers took advantage of a fast start and made use of a deep bench to produce a 75-50 victory in the first round of Wilmington College's Fred Raizk Thanksgiving Tournament.
The win moved Wittenberg to 4-0 on the young season, while Bethany is now 1-3. The Tigers will go for their second tournament title of the 2008-09 season at 3 p.m. Sunday against the host Wilmington Quakers, who defeated preseason North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) favorite Denison by 26 points in the championship game of a tournament they hosted last week. The Tigers won a pair at Peace College last weekend to capture the Jackie Ammons Memorial Tournament title.
Wittenberg scored the first 12 points of the game and never was challenged after that, pushing the lead to 40-19 by halftime and 31 points with 5:10 remaining in the game. By game's end, the Tigers put 14 different players into the game for at least three minutes apiece.
The leading scorer was freshman post Sarah Watson (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson), who poured in a career-high 17 points and four rebounds in 18 productive minutes. Altogether, the Tigers' bench outscored the starters 44-31 as six different reserves scored at least three points.
The starters certainly did their job as well, led by junior post Stephanie Boardman (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley) with 13 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Also of note was the play of senior wing Rachel Dixon (West Liberty, Ohio/Salem), who finished with 12 points - her biggest offensive output since her freshman year after two years lost to injuries.