DELAWARE, Ohio — An 11-0 Ohio Wesleyan run doomed the Wittenberg Tigers to their second straight North Coast Athletic Conference defeat Saturday, this one coming by a final score of 61-51 on the Battling Bishops' home court.
The loss dropped Wittenberg back to the .500 mark at 8-8, including a mark of 5-3 in the NCAC. Ohio Wesleyan, which has won eight of its last 10 games, improved to 10-7 overall and caught the Tigers in the NCAC regular season title chase with a matching 5-3 mark.
The lead changed hands six times in this one and there with seven ties as well. However, with the game on the line the Bishops found their offense, hitting 2-of-4 shots from the field and 7-of-8 from the free throw line in the aforementioned game-altering burst. That moved a precarious 41-39 OWU edge to a commanding 52-39 lead, which the Bishops maintained the rest of the way.
The Tigers were done in again by a struggling offense, despite significant changes to the starting lineup. Senior wing Rachel Clark-Haggy (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) led the way for Wittenberg, finishing with 13 points and five rebounds, and freshman wing Elise Jenkins (Elida, Ohio/Elida) added 10 tallies, three assists and three steals off the bench. Also of note, senior post Kathy Hittle (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) contributed nine points, a game-high nine rebounds, three assists, three blocked shots and two steals in a fine all-around performance.
Ohio Wesleyan put three players in double figures, led by Kelli Lester's 16 points. The Bishops shot a higher percentage (41 to 32) and picked off more rebounds (34-32), although the Tigers did manage to harass OWU into a whopping 29 turnovers, compared to 25 for Wittenberg.