Tigers Pull Away From Oberlin, 67-56
The Wittenberg Tigers opened the game on an 18-2 run and closed it on an 18-4 run to finally pull away from visiting Oberlin for a 67-56 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) victory.
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tigers opened the game on an 18-2 run and closed it on an 18-4 run to finally pull away from visiting Oberlin for a 67-56 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) victory.
The win moved the Tigers back to the .500 mark at 6-6 overall and 1-1 in the NCAC. Oberlin dropped to 5-8 overall and 0-2 in the conference.
After Wittenberg opened the game by scoring 18 of the game's first 20 points, Oberlin responded with a 7-0 run and managed to close the gap to just three points near the end of the first half. The Tigers scored the last basket of the first half and 12 of the first 14 points of the second half to seemingly take control of the game again.
Facing Oberlin's zone defense, however, the Tigers hit another dry spell and the Yeowomen came all the way back this time, taking a 52-49 lead on a Syrea Thomas lay-up at the 5:23 mark. Wittenberg responded with a 9-0 burst over the next three minutes, and this time the Tigers held on, pulling away down the stretch as junior Sarah Watson (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) scored nine points in the final five minutes to secure the win.
Watson led all scorers with 20 points in the game, to go along with eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. Senior Katherine Hueter (Columbus, Ohio/Hilliard Darby) added a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds, in addition to a career-high three blocked shots. Also of note was the play of junior Lyndsey Clark (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh), who finished with a fine all-around stats line of eight points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Oberlin was paced by Kelly Warlich with 13 points, four rebounds and four assists, and Allison Anderson with 12 points, six rebounds and six assists. The Yeowomen shot 40 percent from the field in the game, compared to 44 percent for Wittenberg. Both teams committed a relatively modest 16 turnovers, but Wittenberg won the rebounding battle by a decisive 43-28 margin, including a whopping 16 offensive caroms.