DELAWARE, Ohio — The Wittenberg women's basketball team has struggled to protect the basketball in recent weeks, and the team's fifth loss in the last six games followed the trend as the Tigers committed a staggering 27 turnovers in a 64-53 loss to North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) rival Ohio Wesleyan.
The loss all but assured the Tigers of their first-ever NCAC regular season finish outside of the top four as Wittenberg now stands at 12-10 overall and 7-7 in the conference, with NCAC games remaining against Wooster on Feb. 14 and Oberlin on Feb. 21. Ohio Wesleyan improved to 12-10 overall, but more importantly the Battling Bishops are 8-5 in the conference with an all-important split with the Tigers, who beat OWU on a last-second shot 73-72 earlier in the season.
This was a game decided in the opening 20 minutes, despite the fact that Wittenberg battled back to within four points on a lay-up by senior post Rachel Dixon (West Liberty, Ohio/Salem) with 1:51 remaining. From that point, the Bishops drained 10 straight free throws to pull away.
Wittenberg trailed by 16 points at halftime, in large part because of 16 turnovers that led to a game-altering 22-0 OWU advantage in points off turnovers. The lead expanded to 20 points with 13:09 left in the second half before the Tigers finally mounted their final charge that wound up just short.
The two teams shot similar percentages from the field, actually making 22 baskets apiece, and the Tigers held a 43-33 rebounding advantage. Along with the turnover margin, the difference between the two teams was three more tree-pointers for the Battling Bishops and a significant disparity in free throw percentages. Wittenberg hit just 7-of-14 from the charity stripe, while OWU finished 15-of-17, including the aforementioned 10 straight to end the game.
Individually, junior post Stephanie Boardman (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley) and junior wing Carrie Dyer (Copley, Ohio/Copley) finished with 13 points apiece to lead the Tigers. Boardman added 11 rebounds for a double-double, trumped only by sophomore wing Katherine Hueter (Columbus, Ohio/Hilliard Darby) and her 14 caroms.
Wittenberg is still in a battle for fifth place in the NCAC, but the Tigers must win their last two games - against Wooster on Senior Recognition Day in Springfield and at Oberlin - to both secure that position and gain momentum toward a possible postseason run.