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Kathy Hittle

The Wittenberg women's basketball team appeared to have put it all together with a four-game win streak that moved the Tigers to the top of the North Coast Athletic Conference standings. But a stumble at Denison on Wednesday brought the Tigers back into the pack and set up an even more interesting stretch run to the 2004-05 season.

A blowout win at Wooster on Saturday and the loss to Denison on Wednesday moved the Tigers to 5-2 in the NCAC, good for a three-way tie for second place, one game behind Kenyon. Wittenberg is 9-7 overall.

Against Wooster, the Tigers were dominant from start to finish in a 79-43 victory. It was over almost before it started as Wittenberg used a 24-0 run to bury the homestanding Scots, 39-4 midway through the first half. The margin was 48-16 by halftime and the lead was at least 26 throughout the final 20 minutes.

Wittenberg, which stunned previously unbeaten Kenyon 64-35 at home on Jan. 12, got 16 points and five rebounds from freshman post Katie Gregorevich (Northfield, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit), who was rewarded for her play with NCAC Player of the Week honors. Freshman guard Ellie Stonecash (Springboro, Ohio/Middletown Fenwick) and senior guard Emilie Schmid (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson) also reached double figures in scoring with 13 and 11 points respectively as 13 players saw action and 10 of them scored at least two points. Also of note was the play of sophomore post Kathy Hittle (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) with eight points and a game-high nine rebounds and junior post Joyce Dindo (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) with six points and seven boards off the bench.

For the second time this season the Denison Big Red had all the answers for the Tigers, dealing Wittenberg a disappointing NCAC defeat, 52-44. The Big Red also beat Wittenberg, 63-59, in Springfield on Dec. 1 in the conference opener for both teams. That loss ended a 36-game NCAC regular season win streak for the Tigers, but it seemed to jumpstart their season as Wittenberg reeled off eight wins in the next 10 games.

Both teams made 18 shots from the field and finished with shooting percentages in the 30 percent range. Wittenberg won the battle of the boards comfortably, pulling down 51 caroms to Denison's 38. But the difference, three-point shooting (6-2 made in favor of Denison), free throw shooting (10-6 in favor of Denison) and turnovers as Wittenberg committed a whopping 24 ballhandling miscues to 12 for the Big Red.

The Tigers got tremendous games from Hittle and freshman post Ali Rohlfs (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame), but the tandem got little help offensively. Hittle finished with 12 points and career-highs of 15 rebounds and four blocks and Rohlfs chipped in with a game-high 17 points and seven boards.

The Tigers return home for a game against last-place Earlham on Saturday before hitting the road for a key conference showdown at Kenyon on Jan. 26.