The Wittenberg women's basketball team found its shooting stroke at just the right time, and predictably, the end result was a much-needed 85-59 victory over visiting Ohio Wesleyan.
The win snapped an untimely two-game mid-season losing streak for the Tigers and evened their record at 9-9 overall and 5-5 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC). With six games remaining in the regular season, Wittenberg is one-half game behind Denison for fourth place — and the resulting NCAC Tournament quarterfinal home game — in the standings.
The Tigers hadn't finished a game shooting 50 percent or better since an 80-65 victory over Earlham on Nov. 30, but against the Battling Bishops, Wittenberg finally found its touch again to hit for 51 percent (30-of-59). It was just the second time in the last seven games that the Tigers had even surpassed 40 percent from the floor.
Wittenberg was coming off a 32 percent shooting performance in a stunning 17-point loss at Oberlin on Saturday. But the Tigers methodically built a 12-point halftime lead and then pulled away over the final 20 minutes, building the cushion to as many as 31 points before emptying the bench.
Perhaps the biggest key for the Tigers was the fact that nearly every player on the roster was finally available after a season filled with injuries and illness. For the first time in more than a week, freshman Amber Lara (Oak Park, Ill./River Forest) was available, and she made quite a difference, coming off the bench for 10 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals in 24 tremendous minutes.
Her point total was matched by junior Kim Replogle (Houston, Ohio/Houston), who added six rebounds and a team-best five assists out of the post. Their performances were the perfect complement to senior Sarah Watson (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson), who poured in a game-high 20 points to push her career total to 962. She also hit 4-of-6 three-pointers to move into fifth place in that category in program history.
Ohio Wesleyan, which fell to 7-13 overall and 3-8 in the NCAC, was limited to 34 percent shooting in the game, although the Battling Bishops won the rebounding battle 40-33. In addition to shooting 51 percent from the field, the Tigers also made 18-of-21 from the free throw line and committed 10 fewer turnovers in the game.
The win kicked off a busy week for the Tigers, who turn their attention now to a pair of home games over the weekend. Hiram is the opponent on Friday and Allegheny comes calling on Saturday — fans can follow all the action online via the Tiger Sports Network.