Wittenberg Basketball Teams Open 2001-02 Home Seasons in Fine Fashion With Big Victories

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - If only every team could open the home portion of its schedule in this fashion. The Wittenberg University women's basketball team got the ball rolling on Tuesday night at the HPER Center with a surprisingly easy victory over nationally ranked Baldwin-Wallace College, 71-53. Then the men's team, dropped from the national rankings after a road loss at Wheaton College last Saturday, made a statement with a convincing 85-45 defeat of Case Western Reserve University.

The wins improved both Tiger squads to 2-1 overall on the young season. Both opened with 1-1 records in road tip-off tournaments last weekend.

The Wittenberg women scored the first seven points of the game and rolled from that point, never allowing the Yellow Jackets closer than three points the rest of the way. The Tigers stretched the lead to 42-30 by halftime and played well enough in the second half to keep BWC at arms length throughout. Wittenberg outrebounded its visitors 36-31 and shot nearly 49 percent from the field, including 57 percent in the first half.

Junior All-North Coast Athletic Conference guard Kate Rolf (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Carroll) - pictured at left - led both teams with a season-high 24 points, including a 10-of-11 performance from the free throw line. Senior point guard Meghan Gaydos (Concord, Ohio/Mentor Lake Catholic) scored a career-high 12 points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line, and sophomore forward Geri Woessner (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood)scored 12 points and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds off the bench.

The Wittenberg men took control of their game almost as quickly, snapping a 10-10 first half tie with 18 unanswered points. By halftime the Tigers, the preseason No. 13 in the country, had stretched the lead to 58-26. Wittenberg, the national leader in rebounding margin a year ago, outrebounded CWRU 37-30 and shot a sizzling 63 percent from the floor in the first half. Ten different players saw at least 15 minutes of action in the game, and 11 different players scored at least one point.

Leading the Tigers offensively was senior guard Chad Mossing (Maumee, Ohio/Holland Springfield), - pictured at left - who was stroking it from outside the arc (5-of-9 from three-point range). His 17 points led all scorers in the game, while sophomore forwardPeter Walker (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) also hit for double-figures, finishing with 11 points and nine rebounds. Another outstanding performance was turned in by sophomore point guardMark Borland (Kettering, Ohio/Alter), who had nine points and eight assists in 22 minutes of action.