Amber Rice
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — After falling behind by 16 points in the first half against one of the top teams in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC), the Wittenberg Tigers could have thrown in the towel. Instead, they fought back to take a second-half lead, only to see visiting Kenyon pull out a 66-62 victory.
The Tigers dropped to 3-4 overall and 1-1 in the NCAC, while Kenyon improved to 6-2 overall and 2-0 in the conference.
Wittenberg fell behind 33-17 on a jumper by Kenyon's Morgan Korinek at the 4:25 mark of the first half, but the Tigers rallied to close the gap to seven points by halftime. An 11-4 burst over the first four minutes of the second half — capped by a three-pointer from sophomore Amber Rice (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) — pulled the Tigers into a tie at 41-41.
The Tigers kept the momentum and moved out to a 55-47 lead on a free throw from junior Kim Replogle (Houston, Ohio/Houston) with 6:53 remaining. However, Kenyon outscored the Tigers 19-7 down the stretch.
With the score tied at 59 after a Replogle jumper at the 2:17 mark, but Kenyon re-gained the lead with a lay-up by Korinek and a three-pointer by Maggie Boelter with 1:01 left. Senior Lyndsey Clark (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh) drilled a three-pointer with 41 seconds left, but Kenyon scored on a put-back lay-up by Maureen Hirt with 11 seconds left to close the game out.
Four Tigers reached double figures offensively, led by senior Sarah Watson (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) with 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Replogle added 13 points and six rebounds off the bench, while Clark chipped in with 12 points, nine rebounds and five assists and Rice finished with a career-high 11 points and three rebounds.
Also of note, freshman Heather Schroeder (Aurora, Ohio/Aurora) made her first career start and contributed eight points.