SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - It wasn't quite an act worthy of Houdini, but the top-seeded Wittenberg Tigers were indeed sweating bullets for a time on Tuesday. After trailing the eighth-seeded College of Wooster Lady Scots by as much as seven points early in the second half, the Tigers finally kicked it into overdrive to win 76-69 and advance to the semifinals. In the process, Wittenberg Head Coach Pam Smith won her 300th career game.

The entire game was a surprising struggle for the Tigers, who walloped Wooster 111-58 less than two weeks earlier. They led just 41-40 at halftime and the Lady Scots pounced on the listless Tigers early in the second half with a 10-2 run to take a seven-point lead with 17:18 to go. As the half progressed, however, the Tigers hit some big shots when they needed them and forced the Lady Scots into key turnovers.

Junior guard Stephanie Campbell poured in a game-high 21 points, including 15 important tallies in the first half while her teammates struggled to find the range. Joining Campbell in double figures were junior forward Tiffany Keller with 14 points, junior guard Kate Rolf with 12 points and junior forward Meghan Bruggeman with 10 tallies.

The win improved Wittenberg to 20-5 overall and earned the Tigers home court advantage for the rest of the NCAC tournament. The semifinal games are now set for Thursday with No. 2 seed and defending champion Ohio Wesleyan taking on No. 6 seed Earlham at 5:30 p.m. and the top-seeded Tigers facing No. 4 seed Allegheny at 7:45 p.m. The Wittenberg game can be heard locally on WBLY 1600 AM and via the Internet on Wittenberg's Web site. There will be no broadcast of the first semifinal game.