SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Down 19 with less than eight minutes to go, an inspired Wittenberg Tiger team rallied to cut the deficit to six but could not complete the comeback in a 61-53 home finale loss against Capital. A barrage of three-pointers set the pace for the Wittenberg charge, but the Ohio Athletic Conference leaders had all the answers in their non-conference affair.
The Tigers fell behind early due to poor shooting in the first half, (26 percent) coupled with a stingy Crusader defense that forced 11 turnovers. Still, Wittenberg's own defense kept them in the game, forcing the visitors to take long range jump shots. A 31-19 defecit at the break grew early in the second half while the Tigers struggled to break the Crusaders' defense.
Sophomore guard Kelsey Casey (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) inspired the Tiger resurgence with a pair of triples to cut the deficit to 10, before Tiger free throws chipped away even further into their seemingly insurmountable defecit. In the end, however, the visitors had too many answers as they staved off the furious rally.
Sophomore wing Katherine Hueter (Columbus, Ohio/Hilliard Darby) and junior wing Carrie Dyer (Copley, Ohio/Copley) combined for 16 points and 15 rebounds in a very evenly distributed scoring evening. The Tigers parlayed their hustle into a 42-30 rebounding margin, including 17-8 on the offensive glass.
In the win, the Crusaders head coach Dixie Jeffers won her 500th game with the same program, while senior post Caitlin Elsass scored her 1,000th point. The Tigers fell to 13-11 and remained 8-7 in the North Coast Athletic Conference heading into their regular season finale at Oberlin College on Saturday, Feb. 21.
Written By: Ben Bradley, SID Assistant