COLUMBUS, Ohio - It wasn't easy, but no one associated with the Wittenberg women's basketball program would expect it to be easy when the Wittenberg Tigers and Capital Crusaders, long-time rivals and perennial regional powerhouse programs, hook up each year. By making five 5-of-6 free throws in the final 50 seconds the Tigers completed a hard-fought come-from-behind 71-64 victory over the Crusaders on the Ohio Athletic Conference power's home court.

The Tigers rallied from a 35-31 halftime deficit to take the lead for good, as it turned out, on a three-pointer by senior guard Amber Bishop (Batavia, Ohio/Batavia) with 17:11 left in the game. That basket broke a 37-37 tie and sparked a 21-11 Tiger run. Down the stretch the Tigers made the free throws that mattered most and continued to force Capital into enough missed offensive opportunities to capture the win.

The key to the game was rebounding - as in the re-emergence of strong post play for the Tigers, who struggled against nationally ranked Hope and Baldwin-Wallace in that area in a pair of close home defeats in the last week. After getting outrebounded badly in those two losses, Wittenberg took advantage of a 48-32 rebounding edge against Capital to attain 20 second-chance points to Capital's 11, essentially accounting for the final outcome on the scoreboard. Senior Haley Warden (Loveland, Ohio/Indian Hill) led the charge under the boards for a fourth straight game with 10 caroms, while senior Geri Woessner (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) and Bishop each added seven rebounds, season-high totals for both.

Warden added 16 points and three steals for another outstanding all-around game and her third double-double of the still-young season. Bishop led the team in scoring for the third straight game with 18 points and Woessner had her biggest game since the end of the 2001-02 season (she missed all but four games last year with a knee injury) with 14 points.

The Tigers return to action at Denison at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 3. It will be the Tigers' first North Coast Athletic Conference game since running the table a year ago with 16 straight regular season conference wins and three consecutive tournament victories. Wittenberg heads into that showdown with a 2-2 overall record.