SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – Capital used a 17-rebound advantage to pull away from Wittenberg for a 66-56 non-conference victory on Tuesday night in Pam Evans Smith Arena.
The win moved Capital to 2-1 on the young season, while the Tigers, who were playing their third game in five days, dropped to 1-2 heading into a Thanksgiving weekend break. Wittenberg's next game is at home against another Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) rival Baldwin Wallace on Monday, Nov. 26.
The Tigers led 30-27 at halftime after finishing the opening 20 minutes on an 8-4 run. Wittenberg had an advantage at the break despite being outrebounded by eight, thanks in large part to a perfect shooting performance by sophomore Katelyn Haralamos (Maineville, Ohio/Kings), who hit all four shots from the field, including a three-pointer, and both of her free throws for 11 points.
Over the first 14 minutes of the second half, the two teams traded the lead back and forth before Capital took over with a 10-point run that broke the game open. At the end of the charge, Capital held a 60-51 lead that the Tigers would not challenge the rest of the way.
The Tigers' outshot Capital by a 42 percent to 36 percent margin, but the Crusaders' pulled down 46 rebounds against Wittenberg's 29 to make up the difference. Capital also made 19-of-22 free throw attempts to balance out a 3-for-11 performance from three-point range.
One particularly productive part of the game was the Wittenberg bench, which produced 23 points against Capital's eight. The reserves were led in scoring by junior Amber Rice (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) with 12 and sophomore Karen Daniel-Hamberg (Columbus, Ohio/Grandview) with six.
Haralamos finished with the team's best scoring output of 15 points followed by Rice's 12 and sophomore Enri Small (Columbus, Ohio/Columbus School For Girls) with eight. Senior Kim Replogle (Houston, Ohio/Houston) crashed the boards for six rebounds and was backed up by Small and Daniel-Hamberg who each had five rebounds. Daniel-Hamberg and Haralamos each added two blocks.