SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — After a pair of 13-point losses to the Denison Big Red in a 15-day span, it is apparent that the Wittenberg Tigers need to go back to the drawing board. The latest loss was a 63-50 defeat on the Tigers' home floor that put Wittenberg's North Coast Athletic Conference regular season title hopes on life support.
The Tigers dropped to 8-7 overall and 5-2 in the NCAC, while the Big Red - two-time NCAC Tournament champions and the preseason conference favorite - improved to 14-3 overall and 8-0 in the conference. That includes two wins over the second-place Tigers, giving them what amounts to a three-game lead with eight to play.
Things started well enough for the Tigers as they took an early lead on a three-pointer from junior post Ali Rohlfs (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame). The first half was a hard-fought, closely contested affair, with the Big Red scoring the last four points to finally gain some separation after six ties.
The key stretch was that four-point run to break a 27-27 tie, coupled with a six-point burst to open the second half. That pushed the lead out to 37-27 for the Big Red and they maintained that edge through the rest of the game, thanks in part to foul problems that sidelined 2006 NCAC Player of the Year Kathy Hittle (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville), a senior post who makes so many valuable contributions to the Tigers' offensive and defensive gameplans.
Junior post Katie Gregorevich (Northfield, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) picked up much of the slack, contributing 17 points and 12 rebounds off the bench, but she was mostly alone in compiling significant statistics. As a team, Wittenberg hit 33 percent from the field, including a 4-of-15 performance from three-point range, and the Tigers were outrebounded 39-31. Denison also handled the Wittenberg pressure well, finishing with a modest 18 turnovers, compared to 19 for the Tigers.
Denison was paced by two-time NCAC Tournament MVP Kristen Sheffield with 14 points and 11 rebounds. The Big Red hit 44 percent from the field and 82 percent from the free throw line.