SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - It took eight frustrating tries, but perhaps that made Wednesday's 81-49 NCAA Division III Tournament victory over visiting Penn St.-Behrend that much sweeter. For the first time in school history, the Wittenberg University women's basketball team won a national tournament first round game.

Wittenberg led from start to finish, using a stifling full-court defense and a huge rebounding advantage to easily defeat the Lions, champions of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. The Tigers, regular season and tournament North Coast Athletic Conference champions for the second straight year, improved to 24-5 by winning their 20th straight game. Penn St.-Behrend dropped to 22-6 on the season.

The turnovers mounted quickly for the Lions. Thirteen minutes into the game, Penn St. Behrend had just seven points, had attempted just seven shots from the field, and had committed a whopping 16 turnovers. The Lions finished the first half with 19 turnovers and the scoreboard showed a commanding 39-15 lead for the Tigers. The second half offered more of the same, although less turnovers by Penn St.-Behrend, as Wittenberg kept stretching the lead throughout the final 20 minutes.

"Our guards just did a great job on ball pressure," said Wittenberg Head Coach Pam Smith, who has guided the Tigers to all eight of their NCAA appearances. "Defense dictates offense. We wanted to avoid letting them get the ball into the post, which could have led to match-up problems. Our defense was tremendous, and our team was focused throughout."

Wittenberg, which now hits the road for a second round game at ninth-ranked Messiah in Grantham, Pa., at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 6, put three players in double figures at the offensive end, led by senior guard Amber Bishop (Batavia, Ohio/Batavia), who finished with 18 points and two assists. The dynamic senior post duo of Haley Warden (Loveland, Ohio/Indian Hill) and Geri Woessner (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) combined for 29 points and 17 rebounds. Warden added five assists and two steals and Woessner chipped in with three steals.

Penn St.-Behrend didn't have anyone reach double figures in the game. Carly Cochran finished with nine points and five rebounds, Bambi Lewis and Erica Mozdy added seven points each and Amber Krumpe contributed four points and a team-high six rebounds. The Lions were outrebounded 37-24 for the game and committed 29 turnovers to just nine for Wittenberg. As a result of those two statistics, Wittenberg took 65 shots from the field, compared to 33 for the Lions. Both shot the ball fairly well, as Penn St.-Behrend finished at 51.5 percent and Wittenberg wound up at 46 percent.