SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - In an early season matchup of two of the top teams in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC), the Denison Big Red came to Springfield and sent Wittenberg to its third consecutive defeat. With both teams opening up their conference slate, Denison held off a late charge from the Tigers to pull out the 58-54 win.
Trailing by 11 at the intermission and by as many as 13 in the second half, Wittenberg rallied behind the strong play junior post Stephanie Boardman (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley) to close the deficit to three. After the Big Red extended their lead back to nine with six minutes to go, the Tigers put together a 12-2 run to claim their first lead since the opening moments.
After the two teams traded baskets for the final minutes, Wittenberg could not find one final answer. Free throws allowed the Big Red to pull out the four-point victory to solidify their status as the team to beat in 2008-09.
Wittenberg was led by 22 points from Boardman, as she once again shot well from the floor, going 9-for-20. She also corraled 13 rebounds to lead the Tiger glass attack. For the contest, Wittenberg outrebounded the Big Red 45-33. Sophomore wing Katherine Hueter (Columbus, Ohio/Hilliard Darby) also landed in double figures with 12 points, including seven straight in a stretch that got the Tigers back into the contest. Freshman guard Allie Leopard (Urbana, Ohio/Urbana) also put together a strong performance, scoring eight points on the afternoon.
Wittenberg fell to 4-3 overall and 0-1 in the NCAC as they head into a long mid-season break. The Red and White return to action for the Charles B. Zimmerman Memorial Classic at Pam Evans Smith Arena on Dec. 29 and 30, starting with a match-up against Mount St. Joseph on the 29th at 2:45 p.m. The other semifinal pairs up UW-Oshkosh and Alma College.
Written By: Ben Bradley, SID Assistant