Tigers Open Adrian Tip-Off Tournament With Big Win Over Fontbonne
The Wittenberg Tigers pieced together a 17-2 run to end the first half to break open a tight game and jumpstart a 70-51 victory in the first round of the Adrian Tip-Off Tournament.
ADRIAN, Mich. — The Wittenberg Tigers pieced together a 17-2 run to end the first half to break open a tight game and jumpstart a 70-51 victory in the first round of the Adrian Tip-Off Tournament.
The win evened the Tigers' record at 1-1 and was a welcome change from the season opener, when the Tigers went on a run to take a halftime lead against Baldwin-Wallace but then struggled in the final 20 minutes to absorb a 70-52 loss. Fontbonne, the defending St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion and the 2010-11 preseason favorite to repeat, dropped to 0-2.
After taking a 35-21 lead into the locker room at intermission, the Tigers stretched the lead to as much as 23 over the last 20 minutes of the game. The key was steady shooting throughout the game as the Tigers shot 48 percent from the floor in each half to finish 30-of-62 overall. Oddly, Wittenberg's shooting percentage from the free throw line was just 42 percent (5-of-12).
The charity stripe was Wittenberg's lone area of concern on the night, however. The Tigers won the rebounding battle 46-34 and limited their turnovers to 17 after finishing with an uncharacteristic 27 in the season opener.
Individually, senior Katherine Hueter (Columbus, Ohio/Hilliard Darby) bounced back from a difficult opener to finish with a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds. She even added four assists and three steals in a tremendous all-around performance.
Lending plenty of support were junior Sarah Watson (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) with 17 points and nine rebounds and sophomore Kim Replogle (Houston, Ohio/Houston) with 10 points and four rebounds. Also of note was the play of juniorLauren Cassel (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman), who contributed nine points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals to her customary stellar defensive effort.
Wittenberg will now play in the championship game of the tournament against North Park, a winner over the host Adrian Bulldogs in the other first round game.