Women's Basketball Team Captures NCAC Championship

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Wittenberg University women's basketball team put the finishing touches on the 2005-06 North Coast Athletic Conference regular season championship Saturday with a 59-46 home victory over Wooster.

The Tigers improved to 18-7 overall and 14-2 in the NCAC with the win, which clinched the title outright. Wittenberg finished one game ahead of second-place Allegheny, which completed its regular season schedule on Wednesday with a win over Hiram to finish with marks of 17-8 overall and 13-3 in the conference.

Wittenberg has risen to the top of the NCAC pack for the fourth time in the last five regular seasons and the 11th time overall since joining the conference prior to the 1989-90 school year. Despite entering the conference five years after its inception, Wittenberg has the most women's basketball regular season titles, easily outdistancing Allegheny, which has six, and Ohio Wesleyan, which has five. The regular season championship totals for all three schools include shared titles.

The win was Wittenberg's 13th in the last 15 games and the Tigers' eighth straight at home. Wittenberg will be the No. 1 seed in the NCAC Tournament, which opens with quarterfinal round action at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21. If the Tigers defeat eighth-seeded Hiram at home in the HPER Center on Tuesday, Wittenberg will serve as the host for the NCAC Tournament semifinals and finals on Friday, Feb. 24, and Saturday, Feb. 25.

The Tiger women are coached by Pam Smith, Wittenberg Class of 1982, who has a 20-year record at her alma mater of 385-157. She has led Wittenberg to 11 NCAC regular season titles and seven NCAC Tournament titles, and the Tigers have advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament eight times in her career.

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