SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tigers had been harrassed into poor shooting and a host of turnovers through the first 28 minutes of their North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament semifinal game against Kenyon. Down nine points, the Tigers showed tremendous resolve, fighting back to take the lead and hitting their free throws down the stretch to gut out a 60-54 victory.
The win moved first-seeded Wittenberg into its NCAC-record 14th tournament title game, while improving the Tigers to 19-7 overall. Kenyon, seeded fourth, capped its season with a record of 17-10, while Denison, the No. 3 seed, reached the title game with an 86-57 victory over Ohio Wesleyan in the night's first semifinal. The Big Red are also 19-7 on the season.
Wittenberg led 19-12 midway through the first period and appeared to have the upper hand before its offense went missing for nearly 20 minutes. That allowed the Ladies to rally back to a 25-25 halftime tie before opening the second half on a 13-4 run to take a commanding lead of their own, 38-29, at the 12:54 mark.
That's when the Tigers bounced back, finally breaking through Kenyon's full-court pressure defense for transition baskets. Junior Katherine Hueter (Columbus, Ohio/Hilliard Darby) put the Tigers back in front on a three-pointer at the 8:16 mark, and she hit another one a minute later that gave Wittenberg the lead again. After Kenyon's Laurel Stokes hit a three-pointer at the 2:20 mark to tie the game at 51-51, Hueter then came up with two even bigger baskets, a lay-up off an assist from senior Stephanie Boardman (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley) and a fast-break lay-up 30 seconds later after senior Elise Jenkins (Elida, Ohio/Elida) grabbed a rebound, dribbled upcourt to find a streaking senior Carrie Dyer (Copley, Ohio/Copley), who dished a touch pass to Hueter for the score.
Jenkins then added 3-of-4 from the free throw line to ice the game, with the second pair coming with just 25 seconds left and the game still a two-point margin.
Wittenberg won the rebounding battle 39-31, which was key considering the Tigers made an uncharacteristic 22 turnovers, compared to 17 for Kenyon. Dyer led the Tigers with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists, while Hueter added 13 points and 10 boards. Boardman contributed 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists, and sophomore Sarah Watson (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) chipped in with 12 points, three rebounds and two blocked shots.
Kenyon was paced by Morgan Korinek with 15 points and 10 rebounds, followed by Kat Powers with 14 points and Laurel Stokes with 13 points and three steals. The Ladies shot just 34 percent from the field, compared to 46 percent for the Tigers.