Springfield, Ohio — The Wittenberg University women's basketball team has earned a berth in the 2015 NCAA Division III Tournament after winning the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 28. The Tigers, who have an overall record of 23-6, will face Transylvania University in a first-round game on Friday, March 6, at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo.
Wittenberg is making its ninth appearance in the national tournament. The Tigers, who have an all-time record of 3-8 in the "Big Dance," earned their first berth since reaching the Round of 16 in 2004 under legendary coach Pam Evans Smith.
Washington University, which won the University Athletic Association championship, will host first and second round games. After the Tigers square off with Transylvania, the regular season champion of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC), the host Bears, ranked ninth in the nation, will tip off against Spalding University, regular season and tournament champion of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The winners will play a second round game on Saturday, March 7, for the right to advance to the Round of 16 at a site to be determined.
Wittenberg is making its first NCAA Division III Tournament appearance in Head Coach Sarah Jurewicz's eight seasons at the helm. Her teams had won one NCAC regular season title and reached three NCAC Tournament title games before breaking through for the league's tournament championship and automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament in 2015.
The Tigers head into the NCAA Division III Tournament with a head of steam, winners of six games in a row and 12 of their last 13. Wittenberg's lone loss in that span is an overtime road defeat at the hands of eighth-ranked DePauw.
The season-ending run for Wittenberg was punctuated by wins over Kenyon, Denison and Ohio Wesleyan in the NCAC Tournament. The championship game victory over the Battling Bishops was decisive, as the Tigers captured an 81-57 win behind a career-high 29 points from senior guard Darbie Zirkle (St. Paris, Ohio/Graham), who was named NCAC Tournament MVP.
The Tigers’ first-round opponent, Transylvania, is making its fourth NCAA Division III Tournament appearance, all since 2007. The Pioneers have a 2-3 record in national tourney play. The two teams have played just one time, with Wittenberg securing a 64-54 victory on Nov. 16, 2012, in a game played at Hanover in the Panthers’ Tip-Off Tournament.
Transylvania comes into the national tournament with a 25-2 overall record, including a mark of 18-0 in the HCAC regular season. The Pioneers were selected to the competition as an at-large team after losing to Hanover in the HCAC Tournament title game on Sunday, March 1.
Written By: Ryan Maurer