SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – The latest peak in a season-long rollercoaster ride for the Wittenberg women's basketball team came in the form of a dominating defensive effort that led to a 59-45 victory over visiting Denison.

The win evened the Tigers' overall record at 11-11, but more importantly Wittenberg pulled to within one game of the Big Red in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) standings with three to play. Wittenberg is 7-6 in the conference, compared to 8-5 for Denison, which dropped to 13-9 overall.

After spotting Denison the game's first two points, the Tigers scored the next 11 points while holding the Big Red scoreless for nearly seven full minutes. By halftime, Wittenberg had stretched the lead to 32-16 and the Big Red could get no closer than nine points over the game's final 20 minutes.

The Tigers shot a season-best 56.5 percent from the field in the first half en route to 44.2 percent for the game overall. Just as significantly, Wittenberg limited Denison to 25.5 percent shooting from the field, including a 2-for-16 shooting from three-point range, while outrebounding the Big Red 40-33.

Junior Amber Rice (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) led a tremendously balanced offensive performance for Wittenberg, pouring in 17 points in 21 quality minutes off the bench. She was the only player in double figures as the Tigers spread the other 42 points amongst nine different players, all of whom saw at least 16 minutes of action.

Rice also led the Tigers with eight rebounds and three steals, while freshman Taylore Bundy (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy Orange) added seven boards and sophomore Karen Daniel-Hamberg (Columbus, Ohio/Grandview) finished with six rebounds.

The sprint to the finish, which includes three games in the final seven days of the regular season, begins with a road trip to Wooster on Saturday, Feb. 9. The Tigers will return home for home games next week against No. 1 ranked DePauw on Feb. 13 and Ohio Wesleyan on Feb. 16.