WOOSTER, Ohio — A five-game win streak went by the wayside for the Wittenberg Tigers as they dropped a 70-56 decision to North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) rival Wooster in the season finale for both teams.
The loss dropped Wittenberg into a second-place tie in the final NCAC regular season standings at 11-5, although the Tigers remained the No. 2 seed in the upcoming NCAC Tournament. Wittenberg, which is 14-10 overall, will square off against No. 7 seed Earlham in an NCAC Tournament quarterfinal game at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 20. The win gave the Scots records of 14-11 overall and 9-7 in the NCAC, although tiebreaker criteria dropped Wooster to No. 6 seed in the NCAC Tournament.
After a tight first half in which the Scots took a 30-26 lead into the locker room, Wooster heated up to shoot 54 percent in the second half to gradually pull away. By contrast, Wittenberg shot 38 percent from the field in the second half, which was actually an improvement from the 28 percent the Tigers shot in the opening 20 minutes. Wooster, which beat Wittenberg for the first time since the 1997-98 season - a span of 19 straight games, expanded the lead to as many as 15 points, thanks in part to great offensive balance that featured four double-figures scorers.
The Tigers, on the other hand, got 39 of their 56 points from three players, led by 15 apiece from junior post Katie Gregorevich (Northfield, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) and senior wing Rachel Clark-Haggy (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern). Senior wing Gina Carney (Lexington, Ky./Catholic) added nine points, but the rest of the team made just 5-of-28 shots from the field.
Wooster, which also won the all-important rebounding battle 40-36, was paced by Winnie Adrien's 18 points. Wittenberg attempted 17 more shots from the field - thanks to a whopping 14 offensive rebounds - but Wooster made eight more free throws.