GREENCASTLE, Ind. - After more than a decade kicking at a door that once opened almost annually, the Wittenberg Tigers broke through in decisive fashion with an 81-57 victory over Ohio Wesleyan in the championship game of the 2015 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament.
Playing in a league-record 15th NCAC Tournament championship game, Wittenberg led almost wire to wire to secure an NCAC-record eighth title and their first berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament since 2004. The title game appearance was Wittenberg's third in eight years under Head Coach Sarah Jurewicz, who had been a part of three championships at a player at Wittenberg between 1994 and 1998.
Seeded second in the NCAC Tournament after posting a 12-4 record in the league's regular season, Wittenberg narrowly escaped third-seeded Denison in overtime on Friday before dominating the Battling Bishops. The two teams had split their regular season meetings, but fifth-seeded OWU was unable to keep the magic going for a third straight game after knocking off fourth-seeded Oberlin on Tuesday and top-seeded DePauw on Friday to reach the title game.
The Tigers scored the game's first seven points, but Ohio Wesleyan battled back to take a 15-14 lead. From that point, however, it was all Wittenberg, starting with a game-altering 9-0 run. By halftime, the Tiger lead had swelled to 36-22.
The momentum carried over to the second half as Wittenberg shot 47 percent from the field, including a 5-of-10 performance from three-point range. Three of those three-pointers and 20 total points in the second half came courtesy of senior Darbie Zirkle (St. Paris, Ohio/Graham) as the Tigers never allowed the lead to fall below 16 points the rest of the way.
Zirkle finished with 29 points, five points clear of her previous career-high. She added seven rebounds as Wittenberg dominated the glass to the tune of a 47-31 margin. Leading the charge in that area for a second straight night was sophomore Michelle Brunswick (Middletown, Ohio/Madison), who topped both teams with 11 rebounds to give her 27 in two games.
Providing support in the scoring column was senior Katelyn Haralamos (Maineville, Ohio/Kings) with 17 points to go along with nine rebounds and four assists, and senior Enri Small (Columbus, Ohio/Columbus School for Girls) with 15 points, in addition to two rebounds and three steals. Haralamos now has 1,089 career points to rank eighth in program history, while Small surpassed the 900-point mark during the tournament.
Small joined Zirkle on the NCAC All-Tournament Team.
Wittenberg, which improved to 23-6 overall with the win, now advances to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the ninth time in program history. The Tigers have a 2-8 record in the national tournament, with both wins coming in their last appearance in 2004. That year, Wittenberg defeated Penn St.-Behrend 81-49 in the first round and Messiah 51-48 in the second round before falling to Scranton in the Round of 16 by a 68-51 margin.
The tournament draw will be announced at 2:30 p.m. Monday, March 2. NCAA Tournament Selection Show
NCAC Tournament Home Page - Sarah Jurewicz Post-Game Interview - Darbie Zirkle Post-Game Interview
Written By: Ryan Maurer