Tigers Square Season Series With OWU With 11-Point Win

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers picked up a key victory in the battle for a top four position in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) with a dominating 66-55 performance against visiting Ohio Wesleyan.

The Tigers led nearly wire-to-wire, overcoming an early 6-3 deficit with a 12-3 run and slowly pulling away from there. Wittenberg led by as many as 15 points late in the first half, and after Ohio Wesleyan pulled to within six points early in the second, the Tigers maintained their poise to push the advantage back out to as many as 17 points in waning moments.

The win was Wittenberg's third in a row as the Tigers improved to 14-5 overall on the 2014-15 season. More importantly, Wittenberg is now alone in third place in the NCAC standings, one-half game behind Oberlin at 6-3. The win also avenged a loss to Ohio Wesleyan earlier in the season.

Neither team had a particularly strong shooting night, as Wittenberg hit for 37.3 percent and Ohio Wesleyan finished at 35 percent. The Tigers made two more three-pointers and seven more free throws in the game, however, to account for the final margin.

The Tigers were paced by senior Katelyn Haralamos (Maineville, Ohio/Kings), who poured in 19 points to surpass 950 in her collegiate career. Haralamos, who made 7-of-11 shots from the field, also was the top rebounder in the game with nine boards.

Senior Darbie Zirkle (St. Paris, Ohio/Graham) added 15 points, seven rebounds, four steals and two assists, while senior Heather Schroeder (Aurora, Ohio/Aurora) contributed 13 points. Also of note, sophomore guard Riley McDonald (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) pulled down eight rebounds in a career-high 34 minutes of action.

Written By: Ryan Maurer