GRANVILLE, Ohio — Hoping to get back into the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) regular season title chase, the Wittenberg Tigers instead found themselves on the very short end of a 74-51 decision at Denison to fall three games behind the unbeaten Big Red in the standings.
The loss dropped Wittenberg to 11-6 overall and 6-3 in the NCAC, while Denison continued its hot play with its eighth straight win to improve to 11-6 overall and 9-0 in the conference. Not only do the Big Red, who have won four straight NCAC Tournament titles, own a three-game lead on Wittenberg, but they have won both games between the two teams this year.
After Wittenberg scored the first two points of the game, the Big Red gave a hint of what was to come with a 16-3 burst over the next five minutes. After the Tigers rallied back to tie the game at 25-25 with 2:49 remaining in the first half, the Big Red scored seven of the last nine points to lead 32-25 at intermission.
The second half was all Denison, starting with an 11-2 run over the first four minutes. The Tigers hit just 31 percent of their shots from the field over the final 20 minutes, compared with Denison's blistering 17-of-31 performance. For the game, Wittenberg shot 36 percent, including 4-of-18 from three-point range. Just as importantly, the Tigers were just 5-of-11 from the free throw line, and they committed 21 turnovers to Denison's 15.
Offensively, Wittenberg was paced by junior post Stephanie Boardman (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley) with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. She added two rebounds and three assists to her stats line. Junior wing Carrie Dyer (Copley, Ohio/Copley) was next with eight points and five rebounds, while sophomore wing Katherine Hueter (Columbus, Ohio/Hilliard Darby) chipped in with seven points and a team-high seven rebounds. Also of note, freshman guard Allie Leopard (Urbana, Ohio/Urbana) came off the bench to contribute three points, five rebounds (including four offensive) and four assists.
The Tigers hit the road again Saturday for a game at Wooster. Start time is 2 p.m.