SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Perhaps Head Coach Sarah Jurewicz should coach every game in bare feet. If her team plays as well as it did in an 87-76 victory over Allegheny, she may have to consider it.

Jurewicz, who coached the game without shoes to raise awareness and money for underpriveleged children, saw her Tigers put together a third straight tremendous performance at home in Pam Evans Smith Arena. The win capped a perfect 3-0 week and moved the Tigers to 11-9 overall and 7-5 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC).

Most importantly, the win moved Wittenberg back into the thick of the NCAC title chase. DePauw has already clinched first place, but the Tigers pulled into a three-way tie with Denison and Kenyon at 7-5 — one game behind second-place Allegheny. The top four teams in the final standings earn first-round NCAC Tournament home games, which be important for the Tigers, who are 8-2 at Pam Evans Smith Arena in 2011-12.

After beating Ohio Wesleyan and Hiram to start the week, the Tigers showed little fatigue against Allegheny, making four of their first five shots to open a dominant first half. By the end of the opening 20 minutes, Wittenberg led 47-27 after shooting a sizzling 65.5 percent from the field, including 4-of-8 from three-point range, and 5-of-5 from the free throw line.

Allegheny, which trailed by as many as 23 points late in the first half and with 11:52 remaining in the game, put together a rally but the Gators could get no closer than seven points. Wittenberg cooled off in the second half to finish the game at 52.5 percent from the field and 46.7 percent from long distance, while the Gators shot 44 percent overall.

Senior Sarah Watson (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) led the Tigers with 23 points, topped in the game only by Allegheny's Daryl Ford with 29 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Watson, who now has 993 career points to stand eight in program history, played a tremendous all-around game, adding six rebounds and a game-high six assists.

Freshman Katelyn Haralamos (Maineville, Ohio/Kings) finished with a career-high 22 points, hitting 7-of-8 from the field, 1-of-2 from three-point range, and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Senior Lyndsey Clark (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh)added 11 points, six rebounds and three steals and freshman Amber Lara (Oak Park, Ill./River Forest) rounded out the Tigers' double-figure scorers with 10 points to go along with three rebounds, three assists and three steals.