Battle For First Place Goes To Tigers Over OWU
The Wittenberg Tigers won their fourth straight and seventh in 10 games since a 1-3 start to the 2009-10 season with an 83-80 road win over Ohio Wesleyan.
DELAWARE, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers won their fourth straight and seventh in 10 games since a 1-3 start to the 2009-10 season with an 83-80 road win over Ohio Wesleyan.
The win moved the Tigers a season-high two games over .500 overall at 8-6. But more importantly, Wittenberg is now alone in first place in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC), perched atop the standings with a perfect 6-0 record. Ohio Wesleyan, the defending NCAC Tournament champion, dropped to 11-5 overall and 6-1 in the conference.
The largest lead in the game was a mere six points, enjoyed by Wittenberg midway through the first half, and the largest lead of the final 20 minutes was five, also owned by Wittenberg. The Battling Bishops rallied to take a two-point lead at the 6:56 mark of the second half, but Wittenberg senior post Stephanie Boardman (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley) tied it 12 seconds later on a lay-up. A little more than two minutes later, the tie was broken on a three-pointer by junior wing Katherine Hueter (Columbus, Ohio/Hilliard Darby), and the Tigers held on down a frenetic stretch thanks to four more points by Boardman and 7-of-10 free throw shooting.
Both teams shot extremely well in the game, especially the Tigers, who dropped 17-of-27 shots from the field in the first half, including 3-of-5 from three-point range. For the game, Wittenberg shot a season-best 53.6 percent from the field and 54.5 percent from long distance. In addition, the Tigers enjoyed a 12-rebound advantage, which negated a four-turnover deficit.
Individually, the story for Wittenberg was Boardman, who poured in a career-high 33 points on 15-of-25 shooting for the second-best single-game point total in the team's history. She added six rebounds. Senior wing Carrie Dyer (Copley, Ohio/Copley) added 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists, while Hueter chipped in with seven points and five boards. Also of note was the play of senior guard Elise Jenkins (Elida, Ohio/Elida), who finished with nine points, seven rebounds and a career-high five assists.
The Tigers return to action at home against Kenyon at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 20. The Ladies have won four straight against Wittenberg.