Wittenberg Wallops Denison to Complete Perfect NCAC Regular Season

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - Coming into Saturday's regular season finale at the HPER Center, the hottest team in the North Coast Athletic Conference was clearly the Wittenberg Tigers with 15 consecutive wins. The runner-up was Denison, which had claimed six consecutive victories. On Saturday, the Tigers remained unquestionably the hottest team around by blitzing the visiting Big Red on Senior Recognition Day, 83-55.

This one was only close at the opening tip, but after that it was all Wittenberg. The Tigers claimed leads of 8-2, 23-7, 39-11 and 50-15 before heading into the locker room with a stunning 51-19 halftime advantage. Wittenberg shot 56 percent from the field in the first half, canned 7-of-10 three-pointers and forced 21 Denison turnovers in racing out to the huge lead. It was possibly Wittenberg's finest half of basketball all season, and it obviously couldn't have come at a better time with the NCAC tournament looming next week.

In the second half, Wittenberg continued to run away from Denison, eventually stretching the margin to 81-39 before emptying the back end of the bench for the final five minutes of the game. The Big Red scored 16 straight points before the Tigers capped things with a lay-up at the buzzer.

Wittenberg, which improved to 21-4 overall and 16-0 in the NCAC, was led by senior forward Meghan Bruggeman (Middletown, Ohio/Fenwick) with 14 points, senior guard Kate Rolf (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Carroll) with 11 points, junior guard Amber Bishop (Batavia, Ohio/Batavia) with 11 points, junior guard Christina Fischer (Norwood, Ohio/Cincinnati St. Ursula) with 10 points and senior guard Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) with 10 points.

The win capped the third perfect NCAC regular season in school history and the first since back-to-back 16-0 marks were posted in 1993-94 and 1994-95. The Tiger seniors, who have contributed to a 74-29 composite record over the last four years, were honored prior to the game. Along with Bruggeman, Rolf and Campbell, center Rebecca Meers (Moline, Ill./Moline) and forward Tiffany Keller (Massillon, Ohio/Tuslaw) made their final regular season appearances at the HPER Center. Of note, Rolf heads into the NCAC tournament ranked No. 4 in school history in scoring with 1131 career points, sixth in assists with 230 and first all-time in steals with 219. Campbell, despite playing just three seasons in the Red & White, is now tied for seventh in school history with 211 assists and ranks sixth in steals with 191.

The Tigers will be back in action on Tuesday with a game at 5:30 p.m. against Oberlin. Wittenberg, the No. 1 seed in the NCAC tournament, will host the quarterfinal game Tuesday at the HPER Center and, provided the Tigers advance, will host the semifinals and finals on Friday, Feb. 28 and Saturday, March 1.