Wittenberg Defeats Ohio Wesleyan in NCAC Tournament Semifinals

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg University Tigers put on a clinic in the second half to pull away from North Coast Athletic Conference preseason favorite Ohio Wesleyan on Friday at the HPER Center, beating the Battling Bishops, 70-56, to advance to their third straight conference tournament title game.

Wittenberg, the No. 1 seed in the NCAC Tournament for the third straight year after finishing 16-0 in the regular season, improved to 22-5 while winning for the 18th straight time in the 2003-04 season. Ohio Wesleyan, the fourth seed, dropped to 15-12 overall after turning in a 10-6 conference regular season mark. The Tigers, who defeated their arch-rival for the third straight time this season and the sixth straight time in the last two years, will go after their sixth NCAC Tournament title and second in a row when they take on second-seeded Allegheny at 7 p.m. Saturday in the HPER Center.

Getting a tremendous boost from a boisterous crowd of more than 700 fans, the Tigers rallied from an early 11-point deficit. Ohio Wesleyan's largest lead of the game came at the 10:24 mark of the first half as Erica Brizendine hit a lay-up to make the score 20-11. The Tigers came right back, scoring the next eight points to close the margin to three. After a 7-2 OWU run opened things back up, the Tigers got back-to-back three-pointers from senior guard Amber Bishop (Batavia, Ohio/Batavia) and junior guard Emilie Schmid (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson) to spark an 8-0 run and tie the game at 27-27. Moments later, Wittenberg senior guard Kari Kitchen (Springfield, Ohio/Southeastern) dropped in two free throws at the 47-second mark to give the Tigers their first, and it turned out, only lead of the game. That started an 8-0 run, with four points on either side of halftime, and Ohio Wesleyan never seriously threatened again.

The statistical keys to the game were rebounding and shooting from the field. Wittenberg picked off 36 boards in the game to OWU's 33, and the more versatile Tigers outscored the Bishops 40-32 in the paint while shooting 47.5 percent from the field overall. Ohio Wesleyan made just 21-of-55 shots for 38 percent.

Only five players who appeared in the game for the Bishops scored, and OWU picked up just four points from any perimeter players. Brizendine led all scorers with 22 points, and she added nine rebounds, while 2003 NCAC Player of the Year Kelly Heil finished with 21 points and seven boards. Wittenberg showed tremendous balance, putting eight of the 10 players who appeared in the scoring column, led by 18 points from senior forward Geri Woessner (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood), one off her career high. Senior forward Haley Warden (Loveland, Ohio/Indian Hill) posted her 14th double-double of the season with 17 points and 13 rebounds and sophomore guard Carrie Jones (Greenville, Ohio/Greenville) chipped in with nine points and two assists off the bench.