RICHMOND, Ind. - The Wittenberg Tigers hit the road Wednesday and did what good teams do - manufacture a win against an opponent well down in the conference standings. The victim in this instance was Earlham, by a final score of 67-53.

A 17-1 spurt to open the second half was the difference in this game. After the two teams battled through three lead changes and two ties in the opening 20 minutes, the Tigers quickly expanded a 29-27 halftime advantage into a commanding 46-28 lead at the 12:01 mark of the second half. Earlham would get no closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

The win moved Wittenberg to 9-5 overall and 6-0 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, while Earlham fell to 3-12 and 2-4. It was the Tigers' 10th straight win over Earlham, dating back to a loss during the 2000-01 season, and Wittenberg's 36th win in 39 meetings with Earlham, dating back to 1989, when the two teams joined the NCAC in tandem.

The key to the win for Wittenberg was outstanding post play as junior Kathy Hittle put together a career-high 24 points to go along with a game-high 12 rebounds. Wittenberg dominated the boards to the tune of 50-28.

Sophomore post Ali Rohlfs had another strong performance, finishing with eight points and nine rebounds, while sophomore post Katie Gregorevich came off the bench to contribute 11 points and four boards. On the wing, the Tigers picked up a combined 17 points and seven rebounds from the combo of junior Rachel Clark-Haggy and freshman Rachel Dixon.

Earlham was led by LeShea Orr with 14 points and six rebounds and Chelsea Caywood added 11 tallies and three steals. The Quakers, however, were held to 35 percent shooting from the field, including a 3-of-13 performance from three-point range.