March 5, 2001--(18-8, 11-5 NCAC)

Wittenberg battled No. 1 seed and host Ohio Wesleyan, but came out on the short end of a 75-66 score in the semifinals of the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament at Branch Rickey Arena in Delaware, Ohio on Feb. 23.

Wittenberg was led in the game by senior center Jamie Brafford (Monroe, Ohio/Lakota), who led the team in scoring for the first time all season with 13 points. Sophomore forward Kate Rolf (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Carroll) chipped in with 12 points and five rebounds, while sophomore guard Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) added 11 points before fouling out late in the game.

The Bishops went on to win the NCAC tournament championship in dramatic fashion, rallying from eight points down with just two minutes to go to overcome third-seeded Earlham in overtime on Saturday.

The Tigers ended their season with an 18-8 overall record and 11-5 mark in the NCAC, which was good for a third-place tie with Earlham. It was the 12th straight year that Wittenberg finished among the top three in the conference regular season standings.

The Tigers got an added final boost on Tuesday as Rolf was named to the All-NCAC first team. The team's leader in scoring, rebounding and assists, she is the first Wittenberg selection to the first team since 1999. She is also a nominee, although probably not a leading contender, for NCAC Player of the Year, which will be announced on Monday, March 5.

Also earning All-NCAC recognition was sophomore guard Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern), who claimed honorable mention honors in her first season as a Tiger. She scored just over 10 points per game and led Wittenberg in steals.

February 19, 2001--(17-7, 11-5 NCAC)

Wittenberg struggled for a half before recovering for an 84-70 win over visiting Wooster in the regular season finale on Saturday. The Tigers, who have won five straight games, finished in a tie for third with Earlham, but was seeded No. 4 in the NCAC Tournament based on tiebreaker criteria. In 12 seasons in the NCAC, Wittenberg has never finished worse than a tie for third in a regular season.

The Tigers will host No. 5 seed Denison in the quarterfinals of the NCAC Tournament at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the HPER Center. A win will send Wittenberg into Friday's semifinals against the Ohio Wesleyan-Wooster winner. The semifinals and finals will be played on the home court of the highest remaining seed, most likely No. 1 Ohio Wesleyan.

Wittenberg got off to a slow start against Wooster and trailed 32-22 with 5:44 left in the first half before rallying to within 39-36 at halftime. The Tigers tied the game at 43 early in the second half and took the lead for good at 51-49 on a layup by junior point guard Meghan Gaydos (Concord, Ohio/Mentor Lake Catholic) with 14:48 left. That started a 17-2 run that blew the game open.

A trio of sophomores that have carried the Tigers most of the season did so again Saturday. Guard Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) had 16 points, four assists, four rebounds and five steals. Forwards Tiffany Keller (Massillon, Ohio/Tuslaw) and Kate Rolf (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) added 12 and 11 points, respectively. Senior center Jamie Brafford (Monroe, Ohio/Lakota) added 10 points for the Tigers.

Wittenberg will be facing Denison for the second time in a week, after defeating the Big Red, 77-66, at the HPER Center last Wednesday. Rolf scored a game and career high 25 points, Campbell added 14 and Brafford 10 points.

February 12, 2001--(15-7, 9-5 NCAC)

Wittenberg enters the final week of the regular season in control of its own destiny. The Tigers are tied for fourth with Denison in the NCAC and hosts the Big Red on Wednesday. The winner will be the No. 4 seed and host the No. 5 seed in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament on Feb. 20. At the same time, both Wittenberg and Denison will watch to see if third-place Earlham (10-5 in the NCAC) slips up in its final game at Oberlin on Saturday. Wittenberg will finish the regular season by hosting Wooster on Saturday.

The Tigers picked up a pair of impressive wins on the road last week, slipping past Kenyon 56-54 on Feb. 7 and shocking second-place Ohio Wesleyan 78-59 on Feb. 10. Kenyon was the 2000 NCAC tournament champion, while the Bishops were the 2000 regular season NCAC champions and the preseason favorite for 2001.

Wittenberg trailed 30-27 at halftime at Kenyon before rallying. Sophomore forward Kate Rolf (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) was the only Tiger in double figures with 13 points.

At Ohio Wesleyan, the Tigers jumped to an 11-4 lead at the start, then used a 19-6 run to start the second half. The win snapped a six-game losing streak against the Battling Bishops.

Rolf and junior forward Jill Swary (Columbus, Ohio/Grandview Heights) each had 16 points to lead Wittenberg. It was Swary's first career game in double figures.

Sophomore guard Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) added 12 points and seven steals. She leads the NCAC in steals with 75.

February 5, 2001--(13-7, 7-5 NCAC)

Wittenberg split a pair of home games within 24 hours last weekend, losing 68-60 to NCAC leader Allegheny on Friday, Feb. 2 and coasting to a 74-43 win over Hiram on Saturday, Feb. 3. The Tigers remain in fifth place in the conference, one-half game behind fourth-place Denison and one and a half games in back of third-place Earlham.

The Tigers will spend this week on the road, traveling to Kenyon on Wednesday, then playing at second place Ohio Wesleyan on Saturday.

Wittenberg trailed 33-25 at halftime against Allegheny but rallied to tie the game at 47 with 8:26 left. Unfortunately, the Tigers ran out of gas after that. Sophomore guard Kate Rolf (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) scored a team-high 14 points, including 10-of-11 at the free throw line. Senior center Jamie Brafford (Monroe, Ohio/Lakota) added 11 points for the Tigers.

A mere 18 hours later, Wittenberg returned to action and rolled to an easy win over Hiram. Sophomore guard Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) had 12 points and Rolf 11 as 12 of the 14 Tigers who played scored. Freshman forward Geri Woessner (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) added a game-high 11 rebound, giving her an impressive two-game total of 21 for the week.

This week, the Tigers must find a way to get consistent scoring and a healthy return from sophomore forward Tiffany Keller (Massillon, Ohio/Tuslaw), who has been struggling for more than two weeks with a sprained ankle. Wittenberg heads to Kenyon on Wednesday and then perennial powerhouse Ohio Wesleyan on Saturday in back-to-back road games that will go a long way toward determining whether Wittenberg will host a first-round tournament game on Feb. 20.

In the NCAC statistics, Rolf is second in free throw percentage (.820) and steals (33), while Campbell is fourth in steals (32).

January 31, 2001--(12-6, 6-4 NCAC)

Wittenberg went through another up and down week at home, losing to Earlham 70-57 (Jan. 24) and defeating Oberlin 62-49 (Jan. 27). The team now stands fifth in the NCAC, one-half game behind fourth-place Earlham and one full game behind third-place Denison.

Against Earlham, the Tigers dug themselves a 16-point first half deficit, a shocking development considering Wittenberg had mauled Earlham, 87-35, on Nov. 29 in Richmond, Ind.

Wittenberg rallied in the second half and finally tied the game at 51-51 on a three-point goal by sophomore forward-guard Kate Rolf (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) with 5:24 left. But the team managed to score just six points the rest of the game.

Rolf scored 20 points and was the only Tiger to score in double figures.

Against Oberlin, Wittenberg built a 29-22 halftime lead and never allowed the visitors any closer than that in the second half.

Rolf scored a game and career-high 21 points while senior center Jamie Brafford (Monroe, Ohio/Lakota) matched a season high with 10 points.

The Tigers are idle on Wednesday, but will make up for it with back to back games in less than 24 hours at the HPER Center over the weekend. Conference leader Allegheny comes calling on Friday night, followed by Hiram on Saturday afternoon.

January 24, 2001--(11-5, 5-3 NCAC)

Wittenberg split a pair of games last week, losing 73-62 at Denison (Jan. 16), then rolling to an easy 81-54 win at Wooster (Jan. 20).

The Tigers find themselves in fourth place in the NCAC, one-half game behind third place Denison and one-half game in front of fifth place Earlham.

Wittenberg led 28-24 at halftime and shot 51 percent from the field against Denison, but lost as the Big Red hit 27 of 31 (87.1 percent) from the free throw line.

Sophomore guard Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) with 16 points was the only Tiger to score in double figures. Sophomore forward Kate Rolf (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) added six points, eight rebounds and nine assists.

At Wooster, Wittenberg stormed to a 24-4 lead in the first 8 1/2 minutes and never looked back. All 12 Tigers who played in the game scored. Sophomore forward Tiffany Keller (Massillon, Ohio/Tuslaw) had 13 points and Campbell 11 points. Rolf had another nice all-around game with nine points, seven rebounds and six assists.

In the NCAC statistics, Campbell is second is steals (3.5), while Rolf is third in assists (3.9).

January 14, 2001--(10-4, 4-2 NCAC)

The Wittenberg University Tigers have had their ups and downs in recent weeks, but like the men's team the hope is that they will hit their stride soon.

Since finishing second in the Kiwanis-Wittenberg Holiday Classic to No. 4 ranked University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire on Dec. 29, the Tigers have gone 2-2 in NCAC games. The Tigers started the new year with an 88-44 victory at Hiram on Jan. 5 as 15 players hit the floor and 14 scored at least one point in the game. Three players, sophomore guard Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern), freshman guard Amber Bishop (Batavia, Ohio/Batavia) and senior guard Natalie Estep (Fairborn, Ohio/Fairborn) all led the way with nine points.

The next day, however, the Tigers came out flat in the second half and were stunned by the league-leading Allegheny Gators, 83-55. Sophomore guard Kate Rolf (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Carroll) led the Tigers with 15 points and six rebounds, but Wittenberg managed just 21.6 percent shooting in the second half and committed 25 turnovers in the game.

Redemption nearly came on Dec. 10 as the Tigers battled co-NCAC leader and preseason favorite Ohio Wesleyan down to the wire before falling 61-57 at the HPER Center in Springfield. Campbell led three Wittenberg players in double figures with 13 points, while sophomore forward Tiffany Keller (Massillon, Ohio/Tuslaw) and senior center Jamie Brafford (Monroe, Ohio/Lakota) also finished in double figures. Rolf chipped in with nine rebounds and five assists.

Finally, Wittenberg rallied to capture a hard-fought 64-53 NCAC victory on Jan. 13 at home against the Kenyon Ladies. Rolf dropped in 19 points, Keller added 13 and freshman forward Geri Woessner (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) chipped in with 10. The Tigers won the battle of the boards 53-31 and held the Ladies, the defending NCAC tournament champions, to 31.7 percent shooting from the field.

Rolf leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 11.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. Campbell is also averaging in double figures with 10.5 points per game, and she tops the conference in steals with 52 in 14 games.

December 4, 2000--(4-1, 1-0 NCAC)

The Tigers entered the week with a full head of steam, having defeated nationally ranked Capital by a point on Nov. 21. Wittenberg rallied for the win by scoring five points in the final 2.3 seconds.

On Nov. 27, the Tigers took on the other nationally ranked Ohio Athletic Conference favorite, Baldwin-Wallace. This time, the miracles ran short for Wittenberg as BWC captured an 87-64 victory on its home court. Sophomore guard Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) led the team with 16 points, while sophomore Kate Rolf (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Carroll) chipped in with 15. The Tigers shot just 34.9 percent from the field and were outrebounded 53-29 in the game.

On Nov. 29, Wittenberg rebounded quite well, taking out some frustrations on host Earlham College in the North Coast Athletic Conference opener for both teams. The Tigers, who had 17 players score in the game and outscored their hosts 57-15 in the second half, defeated Earlham 87-35. Rolf topped the team offensively with 12 points, while sophomore Rebecca Meers (Moline, Ill./Moline) chipped in with 10 points and a team-best six rebounds off the bench.

November 22, 2000--(3-0, 0-0 NCAC)

The Wittenberg University women’s basketball team is also expected to assume its customary position at or near the top of the NCAC in 2000-2001. The Tigers were chosen second by the media and third by the coaches during the media day festivities on Wednesday. Perennial power Ohio Wesleyan was projected to top the conference in both polls, while Denison was tabbed to finish second in the coaches poll.

The Tigers have responded with a terrific start to what was thought to be a rebuilding season. It started last weekend as Wittenberg defeated Greensboro College and Western Maryland at the Greensboro College Tip-Off Women’s Basketball Tournament. Sophomore guard Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) topped the Tigers in scoring in both games and earned all-tournament team recognition, while freshman forward Geri Woessner (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) snagged 21 rebounds in the two games to walk away with tournament MVP honors.

That was just the beginning, however. The Tigers returned home early in the morning on Monday and began preparing for nationally ranked Capital as their home opener foe on Tuesday. When the game began, the Tigers fell behind by double digits late in the first half and struggled just to remain within striking distance of the Crusaders, who feature Player of the Year candidate Kendra Meyer and a tall, experienced line-up.

In the second half, the tables suddenly turned. Sophomore Kate Rolf (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Carroll) poured in 20 points in the game, including 12 in the second half, and sophomore Rebecca Meers (Moline, Ill./Moline) tallied 12 points all in the second half to close the gap. Then Campbell stunned the Crusaders with a running three-pointer with 2.3 seconds remaining in the game. After Capital was called for five seconds attempting to in-bound the ball, Wittenberg came out of a timeout to execute a play perfectly. Woessner dropped a short jumper through the net as time expired to give the Tigers the 76-75 upset win.

Wittenberg now has a week to savor the win and prepare for another tough non-conference contest. The Tigers travel to Baldwin-Wallace, a preseason No. 1 in one national poll, on Nov. 28.