MEADVILLE, Pa. - A long road trip that included two games in less than 24 hours - made much longer by a ferocious winter storm - ended on the best possible note as the Wittenberg Tigers turned in an outstanding second half to pull out a 69-57 victory at Allegheny.
The win ended an exhausting week in which the Tigers won four times in a span of seven days, including wins over two of their closest pursuers in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) standings. Wittenberg now stands 15-6 overall and 13-0 in the NCAC, winners of 11 straight since a loss to Ohio Northern on Jan. 2. Allegheny fell to 9-12 overall and 6-6 in the conference with its second loss of the 2009-10 season to Wittenberg.
After Wittenberg took an early lead, Allegheny got the better of things late in the first half to take a 27-23 lead into the locker room. The teams traded leads through the first 10 minutes of the second half before the Tigers used a 9-2 run to turn a 43-42 deficit into a 51-45 lead. From there, Wittenberg slowly pulled away.
Wittenberg did not score a three-point field goal in the game, instead doing most of its damage at the offensive end on the paint. Senior wing Carrie Dyer (Copley, Ohio/Copley) led the way with 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting, followed by senior post Stephanie Boardman (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley) with 16 points and junior wing Katherine Hueter (Columbus, Ohio/Hilliard Darby) with 14 points.
After trailing in the rebounding department at halftime, the Tigers bounced back in a big way over the final 20 minutes to end up with a 46-34 advantage. Boardman led the way with nine caroms, followed by Dyer and senior point guard Elise Jenkins (Elida, Ohio/Elida) with seven boards apiece. Also of note was the play of sophomore forward Lyndsey Clark (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh), who turned in seven solid minutes off the bench in the second half, contributing four rebounds to the cause. The Tigers were short in the post due to an injury suffered by seniorAmber Lough (Springfield, Ohio/Northwestern) at the end of Friday's win at Hiram.
The Tigers can clinch at least a share of the NCAC regular season title and home court advantage for the NCAC Tournament with a win at Kenyon on Wednesday, Feb. 10. Game time is set for 6 p.m.