CHICAGO, Ill. — The Wittenberg Tigers got the 2006 season off to an outstanding start Saturday with an 88-71 victory over Buena Vista in the opening round of the Midway Classic at the University of Chicago.
The Tigers advanced to Sunday's championship game against the host Maroons, a 76-58 winner over Kalamazoo in the opening round.
Wittenberg led most of the first half before heading into the intermission with a 42-38 lead. Buena Vista rallied to take two separate one-point leads in the second half, but senior wing Rachel Clark-Haggy (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) scored on a lay-up at the 14:33 mark and junior post Katie Gregorevich (Northfield, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) added a three-point play less than a minute later to give the Tigers a lead they would never relinquish.
The deep, up-tempo Tigers shot better than 50 percent in each half to finish with a 55.6 shooting percentage for the game as a whole. Senior post Kathy Hittle (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) led the way with 18 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and 8-of-11 from the free throw line.
Hittle got plenty of help, though. Gregorevich added 16 points and six rebounds off the bench, while Clark-Haggy added 14 points and a team-high seven boards. Freshman wing Elise Jenkins (Elida, Ohio/Elida) was hot in her first collegiate appearance, pouring in 14 points on 4-of-5 from the field and 4-of-5 from the line in the game. In addition, senior wing Gina Carney (Lexington, Ky./Catholic) chipped in with 10 points, including a pair of three-pointers on three attempts.
The Tigers finished a scorching 7-of-12 from three-point range in the game, and Wittenberg held a nine-turnover advantage. The shooting figures, combined with the turnover margin, offset a 34-28 rebounding advantage for Buena Vista.