RICHMOND, Ind. — The Wittenberg Tigers put together one of their most balanced offensive efforts of the 2008-09 season to pull away from host Earlham for a 78-59 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) victory.
The win was Wittenberg's fourth in five games since a 23-day layoff for final exams and the Christmas holiday, improving the Tigers to 8-4 overall and 3-1 in the NCAC. Earlham fell to 1-12 and 0-5 in the conference, remaining the lone winless team in the NCAC.
After Earlham scored the game's first two points, the Tigers reeled off 11 straight to take control. After leading by as many as 15 points late in the first half, the Tigers settled into a 41-28 edge by halftime. The lead never dipped below 10 points in the second half as the Tigers slowly pulled away.
Six Wittenberg players scored eight or more points, led by junior wing Carrie Dyer (Copley, Ohio/Copley) with 14 in her first start of the 2008-09 season. Junior post Stephanie Boardman (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley) added 12 points, freshman post Sarah Watson (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) contributed 10 points, senior post Rachel Dixon (West Liberty, Ohio/Salem) finished with nine points and sophomores Katherine Hueter (Columbus, Ohio/Hilliard Darby) and Amber Lough (Springfield, Ohio/Northwestern) finished with eight points each. Lough's point total and 12 minutes of game action were both career highs.
Wittenberg was credited with a 38-18 advantage for points in the paint, an edge that pales in comparison to the Tigers' whopping 63-23 rebounding advantage. Balance was the key in this area as well, led by Dyer's 10 boards. Hueter added eight, Boardman finished with seven, Lough chipped in with six and Watson contributed five.
The rebounding helped counteract Earlham's three-point shooting (42.1 percent on 8-of-19) and Wittenberg's dismal free-throw shooting performance (54.2 percent on 13-of-24).
Wittenberg returns to action Saturday with a game against NCAC rival Oberlin at 2 p.m. The Tiger men follow that with a 4 p.m. tip-off against Allegheny.