Pam Smith
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — It was a big night for their coach, but as far as the 2006-07 season goes, it was an even bigger night for the Wittenberg Tigers as a team.
For the fifth straight time, the Tigers put together a quality performance, this time avenging a Jan. 30 loss at Kenyon with a dominating 55-39 victory over the visiting Ladies. The win was significant for a variety of reasons - starting with the fact that it was the 400th in Head Coach Pam Smith's 20-year career as the Tigers' head coach and ending with the fact that it clinched at least a share of second place in the North Coast Athletic Conference and home court advantage for a quarterfinal round game at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 20, against Earlham College.
Wittenberg is now 14-9 overall and 11-4 in the NCAC, one-half game ahead of Allegheny College with a game remaining at the College of Wooster on Saturday. The Tigers are guaranteed the No. 2 seed in the NCAC Tournament thanks to a regular season sweep of the Gators, however.
After trailing by as many as four points in the early going, the Tigers put together a 20-5 spurt that turned an 11-7 deficit into a 27-16 lead. The key in taking a 32-22 advantage into the locker room at halftime was defense as the Ladies managed just 22 percent shooting from the floor, while the Tigers hit 13-of-26 in the opening 20 minutes.
Kenyon got the lead down to six on two occasions in the second half, but the Tigers had the answers. Neither team shot well in the second half, with shooting percentages both in the 30 percent range.
Wittenberg was paced by 16 points and seven rebounds from senior post Kathy Hittle (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) and a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds from junior post Katie Gregorevich (Northfield, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit). The Tigers finished the game shooting 41 percent from the field and 11-of-12 from the free throw line. Kenyon won the battle of the boards by four, while the Tigers held a one-turnover advantage.
Kenyon was paced by 13 points from Eva George as the Ladies dropped to 12-10 overall and 9-6 in the NCAC. Kenyon finished the game with a shooting percentage of 24 percent.
Smith became just the 21st active NCAA Division III women's basketball coach to notch 400 career victories. The seven-time NCAC Coach of the Year has a record of 400-168. To read more, click here.