Late Free Throws Push Tigers Past Denison For Key NCAC Victory

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Amber Lara

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Over and over again during the 2011-12 season, the Wittenberg women's basketball team has shown great resiliency. Never was their mettle more than in the second half against defending North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) champion Denison, but again the Tigers rose to the challenged to secure a clutch 59-57 win over the Big Red.

Wittenberg trailed by nine points with 11:41 remaining, but the Tigers outscored Denison, which posted a perfect 28-0 mark in the 2010-11 regular season, 24-13 from that point. The win snapped Denison's seven-game winning streak and dropped the Big Red, who had won three straight and six of the last eight meetings against Wittenberg in recent years, to 11-5 overall and 4-2 in the NCAC.

The Tigers, playing for the first time in a week, made it four wins in their last five games and extended their strong performance at home to 5-1 during the 2011-12 season. Overall, Wittenberg is now 7-6, including a mark of 3-2 in the NCAC.

After the two teams battled to a 28-28 draw at halftime, the Big Red appeared to take control of the game, pulling out to a 44-35 lead on a lay-up by Lucy Follansbee at the 11:41 mark. Wittenberg responded with an eight-point run, but Denison again built the lead back up, this time to eight points at the 6:56 mark on a lay-up by Jane Windler.

A game-ending 16-6 run started with a lay-up by freshman Enri Small (Columbus, Ohio/Columbus School For Girls) less than a minute later. Senior Lyndsey Clark (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh) put the Tigers in the lead for the first time in the second half on a three-pointer with 2:21 left, but the Big Red pulled back into a tie at 57 with 19 seconds left on a basket by Serafina Nuzzo.

Just three seconds later, freshman Amber Lara (Oak Park, Ill./River Forest) was fouled as she brought the ball up the court. Lara calmly stepped to the line and buried both shots, and for good measure she pulled down the rebound at the other end after Nuzzo missed a shot that would have tied the score with seven seconds remaining.

Wittenberg shot 39.6 percent from the field, including 4-of-8 from three-point range. Most importantly, the Tigers converted 17-of-20 from the free throw line while also outrebounding the Big Red 35-32. Denison shot 41.8 percent from the field and managed just 8-of-14 from the charity stripe, in addition to committing two more turnovers than Wittenberg in the game.

Senior Sarah Watson (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) led the Tigers with 14 points and eight rebounds despite suffering an ankle injury early in the second half. Lara added 10 points and Small contributed 11 and Clark finished with nine. Eight of the 10 Tigers to check into the game found their way into the scoring column.