SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — A rough and sometimes ragged game was brought to a satisfying conclusion Saturday as the Wittenberg Tiger offense finally awoke from its slumber, leading to a 71-63 North Coast Athletic Conference victory over the College of Wooster.
The Tigers, coming off a dismal shooting performance on Dec. 6 at Thomas More College, evened their record at 3-3 overall. More importantly, Wittenberg is now 2-0 in the early going of the NCAC regular season title chase. Wooster dropped to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the NCAC.
The score was tied 13 times and there were a total of 13 lead changes. The last momentum shift was the key one as Wittenberg went on a game-closing 8-0 run as four different players scored two points each.
The two teams shot a nearly identical percentage from the floor, and each team hit six three-pointers in the game. The difference came in a 25-13 edge from the free throw line for the Tigers, in addition to a 14-rebound advantage. Eighteen of those caroms were collected on the offensive end as Wittenberg held a key 14-7 edge in second-chance points.
Senior post Kathy Hittle (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) led the way for Wittenberg with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds. Junior post Katie Gregorevich (Northfield, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) added 12 points and six rebounds off the bench, while junior post Ali Rohlfs (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) chipped in with 10 points. Sophomore guard Kristin Donawerth (Harrison, Ohio/Harrison) had a solid all-around game with eight points, six rebounds, three assists and four steals.
Wooster was led by Kym Wenz with 13 points, including three treys, but she was limited to just a lone basket in the second half. The Tigers stepped up the perimeter defense in the second half, and it paid off as the Scots hit just one of their last five triples after making 5-of-11 in the opening 20 minutes.
The Tigers will return to action a week from today against nationally ranked DePauw, also in the HPER Center Arena.