MEADVILLE, Pa. — For the first time in the 2007-08 season, the Wittenberg Tigers put together a winning second-half rally to claim a key North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) victory at Allegheny, 76-75.
The Tigers improved to 10-9 overall and 9-3 in the NCAC with the win. Wittenberg will head to Hiram on Saturday in search of a weekend road sweep that would keep them in second place in the conference. Allegheny, which lost by 31 points last month at Wittenberg, fell to 7-13 overall and 4-7 in the NCAC.
On at least seven previous occasions during the season, Wittenberg had fallen behind in the first half but pulled into at least a tie in the late stages of the final 20 minutes before losing a game. Among those near-miss come-from-behind defeats were games against nationally ranked Capital, Thomas More and DePauw, as well as NCAC-leading Kenyon on two occasions.
This time, it was different. The Tigers trailed by seven points at halftime before putting together a 10-0 to take a brief 51-49 lead on a jumper by senior post Ali Rohlfs (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) and then a fastbreak lay-up by sophomore guard Victoria Leali (Jackson, Ohio/Jackson) with 15:33 to go. But the Gators responded with a run of their own to push the lead out to as many as seven points with 9:05 remaining.
Another Wittenberg run, this one totaling 9-0, finally turned the tide for the Tigers. Sophomore wing Carrie Dyer (Copley, Ohio/Copley) scored four straight points to cap the burst and give the Tigers a 68-65 advantage with 4:03 left. Wittenberg held on down the stretch, despite an Allegheny three-pointer at the buzzer.
Statistics don't normally lie, but the ones produced by these two teams very nearly do. The Tigers shot 48 percent from the field and 71 percent from the free throw, both above their season average, and they won the rebounding battle decisively, 39-18. Both teams committed 18 turnovers. But the Gators, who played just six players double-figure minutes in the game, stayed alive with some tremendous shooting as they hit 56 percent from the field, including a scorching 8-of-12 from three-point range.
Three players in particular stood out for Wittenberg, starting with Dyer's career-high 22 points, five rebounds and two steals. Senior post Katie Gregorevich (Northfield, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) added 18 points, seven rebounds and two assists against zero turnovers in a tremendous 34-minute performance. Rohlfs added 12 points and nine rebounds.