SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers opened North Coast Athletic Conference play with a defensive statement after coming up with 27 steals and limiting visiting Oberlin to just 33 percent shooting in a convincing 83-37 victory. It was the Tigers' 2005-06 home opener, and it was the NCAC opener for both teams.

Wittenberg, which is hoping to reclaim the NCAC regular season title after finishing in a second-place tie a year ago to break a three-year atop the standings, evened its record at 3-3 on the season. Oberlin dropped to 0-5 overall.

Still in search of workable combinations of players, Tigers Head Coach Pam Smith gave all 17 players in uniform between eight and 18 minutes of action in the game, and every one of them scored at least two points. Wittenberg came at the undermanned Yeowomen in waves, rolling up a 16-2 lead to open the game and never looking back.

Junior guard Megan Miller got things going early with three three-pointers in the first half en route to a 15-point game on 5-of-6 shooting, all from long range. The Tigers' only other double-figure scorer was freshman post Lauren Rivers, who came off the bench to contribute 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 from the free throw line in just 12 minutes of action.

The Yeowomen finished with as many turnovers as points in the game, with 27 of those 37 turnovers resulting in Wittenberg steals. Senior point guard Brittany Landreth, the team leader in steals a year ago, led with five to go along with eight points in the game. Also of note was the play of freshman wing Katie Gardner, who accumulated nine points and five assists in just eight minutes off the bench.

Oberlin was led by 13 points from Alyssa Clark. The Yeowomen were limited to just 33 percent shooting from the field.