SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Wittenberg women's basketball team finished first in the North Coast Athletic Conference regular season for the first time since head coach Sarah Jurewicz took over the team, but the fairy tale-ending was not to be, as the Tigers fell to Denison in a 70-67 decision in the NCAC Tournament championship game.
The loss dropped the Tigers to 19-8 on the year, and came on the heels of a furious rally that fell just short in the final minutes. Down 18 early in the second half, Wittenberg fought back to within 10 points with 5:05 left in the game. Then, over the next 4:25, the Tigers scored eight unanswered points to get within two with 40 seconds remaining. The last 40 seconds saw Denison hit 6-of-6 free throws, while Wittenberg dropped in five points, getting as close as one point from tying after a good three-pointer from sophomore post Sarah Watson (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson).
The loss finishes the Tigers' best overall season since 2005-06, when they finished with a matching 19-8, and their best NCAC season (15-1) since going 16-0 in 2003-04. The game also served as the final contest for seniors Stephanie Boardman (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley), Carrie Dyer (Copley, Ohio/Copley), Elise Jenkins (Elida, Ohio/Elida), Amber Lough (Springfield, Ohio/Northwestern) andKellsea Vasileff (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee).
Boardman led the way in the game with 17 points, and junior Katherine Hueter (Columbus, Ohio/Hilliard Darby) backed her up with 14 while pulling in a team-high 10 rebounds, on her way to all-tournament team honors. Dyer joined Hueter on the all-tournament team after posting 13 points and seven rebounds. Hueter finished the tournament, which started Tuesday, Feb. 23 against Hiram, with 36 points, including 13-of-31 (41 percent) from the field and 6-of-11 (54 percent) from three-point range, while grabbing 25 rebounds. Dyer closed the tournament out with 42 points and 16 rebounds.
Watson ended the game with 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting, including two three-pointers, to go with six rebounds, and sophomore Lauren Cassel (Columbus, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) finished 3-of-3 from the floor and 1-of-1 from the free throw line for seven points, to go with three steals. Jenkins posted six points on 1-of-2 shooting and 4-of-4 from the stripe, along with four rebounds.
For the game, both teams were 25-of-64 from the floor. Wittenberg held a small advantage in three-point shooting at 5-of-13 while Denison was just 3-of-19, but the Big Red made up for it with 17-of-25 free-throw shooting, compared to 12-of-18 for the Tigers.
Written by: John Strawn '07