Late Effort Against Wooster Helps Tigers Celebrate Seniors

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Wittenberg women's basketball senior class made their final 2011-12 regular season appearance a memorable one, overcoming a slow start to pick up a 72-45 victory over visiting Wooster.

Before the game, seniors Lyndsey Clark (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh), Sarah Watson (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson), Lindley Bell (Pittsfield, Mass./Mount Greylock) and Lauren Cassel (Columbus, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) were honored for their contributions to the program. They spearheaded a strong second half that pushed the Tigers to 12-10 overall and 8-6 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) with two games remaining.

Wooster, which fell to 3-19 overall and 2-12 in the NCAC, did its best to make Senior Recognition Day uncomfortable for the Tigers, at least in the first half. However, after seeing their 32-27 halftime lead shrink to three at the start of the second half, the Tigers took control with a 15-2 run that opened a 47-31 bulge. It eventually swelled to 28 points as Wittenberg outscored Wooster by a whopping 22 points over the final 20 minutes.

Freshman Enri Small (Columbus, Ohio/Columbus School For Girls) led the Tigers with 16 points and six rebounds in 17 quality minutes off the bench. Junior Kim Replogle (Houston, Ohio/Houston) added a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and freshman Amber Lara (Oak Park, Ill./River Forest) chipped in with 10 points, six rebounds and three steals.

Bell, Watson and Clark all finished with nine points, while Cassel cheered from the sidelines as she has since the first game of the season due to an injury. For Bell, it marked a career high point total.

Wittenberg shot 38 percent from the field, but the Tigers were dominant defensively, holding Wooster to 29 percent. Wittenberg won the rebounding battle 51-36 and committed five fewer turnovers in securing the victory.