2004-05 News
The watershed moment that changed the Wittenberg athletic landscape forever occurred on April 3, 1955, with the most important hiring in the department's illustrious history.
An outstanding winter sports season has come to a close for the 2004-05 school year, but not before 15 Wittenberg University student-athletes reaped rich rewards for their efforts as they were selected to All-North Coast Athletic Conference teams.
The Wittenberg women's basketball team lost 10 seniors in the last two years, all of whom made significant contributions to three straight North Coast Athletic Conference championships. At some point, even a program as firmly established as Wittenberg's is unable to overcome such significant personnel losses.
The Wittenberg women's basketball team never quite got untracked offensively in the 2004-05 season, and it finally caught up with the Tigers as their three-year reign atop the North Coast Athletic Conference came to an end with Friday's NCAC Tournament semifinal defeat against Denison.
Denison senior wing Emma Woodward (Thornville, OH/Lakewood) has been named Player of the Year to highlight the 2005 All-North Coast Athletic Conference women's basketball squad, announced today after voting by the conference's head coaches.
The Wittenberg women's basketball team may have taken a somewhat circuitous route, but the Tigers are right where they want to be at this time of the 2004-05 season. The two-time defending North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament champions are seeded third in this year's tournament after tying for second place in the regular season standings, and the Tigers are set to tip off against second-seeded Denison at 5:30 p.m. tonight.
The weather still hasn't warmed yet in Ohio, a sign that the winter season still has a grip on the state. The Wittenberg Tigers still haven't warmed up yet either, as evidenced by 27 percent shooting from the field, including a 1-of-16 performance from three-point range, in a disappointing 56-43 defeat against Denison in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals hosted by Kenyon College.
The Wittenberg Tigers have reached the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals in each of their 16 years in the league, and after a slow start against the College of Wooster Fighting Scots the Tigers rallied to advance to that familiar position again in 2005 with a 73-51 victory.
The Wittenberg Tigers continued their recent mastery of one-time nemesis Ohio Wesleyan Saturday, claiming a 67-55 road victory over the Battling Bishops. It was Wittenberg's eighth straight victory over Ohio Wesleyan, dating back to an 81-75 overtime win in the HPER Center in the 2002 North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament championship game.
The Wittenberg women's basketball team has taken some body blows, but like any good fighter, the Tigers can't be counted out. With a roster dominated by underclassmen, the Tigers have shown steady improvement with flashes of outstanding play mixed in and now stand at 15-9 overall and 11-4 in the North Coast Athletic Conference.
The Wittenberg Tigers found themselves in a spot they didn't expect - tied up at 24 with last-place and winless Earlham four minutes into the second half. Then the Tigers turned on the afterburners, scoring the next six points and 44 of the last 61 to claim a deceiving 68-41 victory over the Quakers on their home floor.
The celebration for Senior Day turned out to be a victorious day for the Wittenberg Tigers, as they defeated visiting Wooster, 64-61.
Less than 24 hours after struggling mightily against the Allegheny Gators, the Wittenberg Tigers rebounded nicely with an 84-50 home victory over Hiram.
The Wittenberg women's basketball team continues to show its age. With most of their players in the rotation in the freshman and sophomore classes at Wittenberg, the Tigers have gone through their share of highs and lows this season as they build for the future and compete for a fourth straight North Coast Athletic Conference regular season title simultaneously.
Neither team played very well in the first half. Unfortunately for the Wittenberg Tigers, the team that finally caught fire and pulled out an unlikely victory was the Allegheny Gators, who captured a 58-53 victory.
The Wittenberg Tigers and their rollercoaster 2004-05 season continued on Tuesday, this time with a happy ride up one of the hills with a convincing 78-63 victory over visiting Ohio Wesleyan.