Tigers Cap Regular Season With Big Win At Ohio Wesleyan

File Photo/Erin Pence
File Photo/Erin Pence

DELAWARE, Ohio — The Wittenberg women's basketball team outscored host Ohio Wesleyan 30-11 over the last 15 minutes of the first half and carried that momentum to an 85-62 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) victory.

It was the Tigers' second win over Ohio Wesleyan of the 2011-12 season, and it guarantees Wittenberg a winning season. The Tigers head into the NCAC Tournament quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25, at Allegheny with records of 13-11 overall and 9-7 in the conference.

Wittenberg will be the No. 5 seed in the tournament, while Allegheny is the No. 4. DePauw went undefeated in the NCAC regular season to secure the No. 1 seed and home court advantage for the semifinals and finals.

The two teams were tied at eight at the 15:09 mark of the first half when the Tigers went on a game-changing run. Over the last 15 minutes of the first half, Wittenberg outscored OWU by 19, including a 10-0 burst to close the first 20 minutes and stake the Tigers to a commanding 38-19 advantage.

Ohio Wesleyan, which dropped to 9-16 overall and 5-11 in the NCAC, would get no closer than 12 points the rest of the way.

The Tigers, who shot 51 percent from the field and forced a whopping 29 Ohio Wesleyan turnovers, were paced by a career-best 23 points from freshman Enri Small (Columbus, Ohio/Columbus School For Girls), who poured in 23 points to go along seven rebounds. Also hitting for a career-high was freshman Katelyn Haralamos (Maineville, Ohio/Kings), who added 21 points after an exceptional shooting performance, going 8-of-10 from the field, including 3-of-4 from three-point range, and 2-of-2 from the free throw line.

Also of note, senior Sarah Watson (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) contributed 15 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals in a well-rounded performance. And sophomore Amber Rice (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) similarly stuffed the stats sheet with eight points, five rebounds and four steals in 22 quality minutes off the bench.