If the Wittenberg women's basketball team didn't already have complete command of the 2002-03 North Coast Athletic Conference regular season race, they do now. With a surprisingly easy 71-52 defeat of two-time defending NCAC tournament champion Ohio Wesleyan on Saturday, the Tigers own a three-game advantage in the regular season race.
Now with a 9-0 NCAC record, Wittenberg has the inside track on serving as host of the conference's tournament championship Feb. 25-March 1. The Tigers hosted the tourney a year ago but were upset in the title game by OWU in overtime and missed out on an opportunity to advance to the NCAA Division III tournament for the first time since 1998.
Playing on the road against second-place Ohio Wesleyan, Wittenberg rallied from an early 17-9 deficit to cruise to a 71-52 victory. It was the second time in less than a month that Wittenberg had beaten the Battling Bishops.
With the game tied 17-17 at the 5:39 mark of the first half, Wittenberg went on a 9-0 run in which four different players scored in a span of two minutes. That sparked the Tigers to a 38-23 halftime lead, a significant advantage that stretched to as much as 24 points thanks to a 12-4 run to open the second half.
Wittenberg hit 46 percent of its shots in the game, including 57 percent in the first half, compared to 42 percent for Ohio Wesleyan. The Tigers won the rebounding battle 37-33, including 15 offensive caroms for the visitors, and OWU lost the turnover battle 18-15. Neither team shot well from the free throw line as Wittenberg hit 58 percent and the Bishops only 47 percent. Senior center Rebecca Meers (Moline, Ill./Moline) led all scorers with 18 points as she hit seven of her 11 shots from the field and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. Senior guard Kate Rolf (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Carroll) added 14 points and game-highs of eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals in a tremendous all-around performance. Senior guard Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) added 10 points and five rebounds to the cause.
Wittenberg goes back to work this week on Tuesday in a game at Kenyon and then home dates on Friday and Saturday with Hiram and Allegheny. A clean sweep of those games would bring Wittenberg within one win of clinching at least a share of the conference regular season title and home court advantage for the NCAC tournament. Saturday's game against Allegheny will be televised on tape delay by Time Warner Cable in the Dayton area. Broadcast details will be released later this week.