Women's Basketball — 2002-2003 News Releases
March 10, 2003
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| Haley Warden |
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| Stephanie Campbell |
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| Tiffany Keller |
Early in the 2002-03 season, the Tigers lost at Baldwin-Wallace 79-53. While the end result was the same three months later, Wittenberg had its fate in its own hands deep into the game.
The stakes were considerably higher this time, and the Tigers were up to the test. After staking the Yellow Jackets to a 33-26 halftime lead, Wittenberg fought back with a 16-7 run to open the second half and take a 42-40 lead at the 13:29 mark on a lay-up by senior guard Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern). In the previous meeting, B-W crushed Wittenberg in the second half after taking a 38-27 advantage into the locker room.
Wittenberg stretched its lead to as much as 49-44 after junior forward Haley Warden (Loveland, Ohio/Indian Hill) canned a long three-pointer with 9:22 remaining in the game. But the Yellow Jackets fought back to tie the game at 51 with 6:43 remaining and then pulled away at the free throw line, hitting eight straight from the charity stripe in the final 6:03 while Wittenberg went cold from the field, missing six of its final nine shots from the field.
Wittenberg was led offensively by senior forward Tiffany Keller (Massillon, Ohio/Tuslaw) with 12 points. Warden and Campbell added 10 each for the Tigers, who won the rebounding battle 32-27 and forced 26 B-W turnovers in the game. However, Wittenberg shot just 37 percent from the field, including a 3-for-14 performance from three-point range.
Next: Season Complete
March 5, 2003
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| Kate Rolf |
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| Stephanie Campbell |
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| Meghan Bruggeman |
Wittenberg is back in the NCAA tourney for the first time since 1998 and the seventh time in school history. The Tigers have a 1-6 record in NCAA tournament action, dating back to their first appearance in 1989.
To reach the national tournament, the Tigers put on a clinic in capturing their sixth North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament title since joining the conference prior to the 1988-89 season. The Tigers stretched their winning streak to 19 since the calendar flipped to 2003 by defeating Oberlin, Allegheny and Ohio Wesleyan at home by an average of 47 points per game.
The title run began Tuesday for the top-seeded and regular season champion Tigers in the tourney quarterfinals as Wittenberg defeated Oberlin, 86-46. Wittenberg opened up a 38-17 halftime lead and then coasted home in the second half as all 16 players in uniform saw at least two minutes of action.
Wittenberg put five players in double figures, led by junior guard Amber Bishop (Batavia, Ohio/Batavia) with 15 points. Senior forward Tiffany Keller (Massillon, Ohio/Tuslaw) added 12 points and three players finished with 10 tallies, senior guards Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) and Kate Rolf (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Carroll) and senior center Rebecca Meers (Moline, Ill./Moline).
On Friday in the semifinals against Allegheny, the Tigers buried the fourth-seeded Gators, 95-27. Wittenberg jumped out to a 13-7 lead early in the first half and then closed it by scoring 43 of the next 49 points to go into the locker room with a commanding 56-13 advantage. The second half was no better as Wittenberg's reserves picked up where the starters left off.
Wittenberg was led by Rolf's game-high 19 points after she hit her first seven shots from the field and Campbell added 12 points, five assists, four steals and eight rebounds. Junior forward Haley Warden (Loveland, Ohio/Indian Hill) added seven points, nine rebounds and four assists, junior guard Kari Kitchen (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) had five points and three assists and junior guard Christina Fischer (Norwood, Ohio/Cincinnati St. Ursula) had six points and three assists. Neither Kitchen or Fischer, the team's point guards, committed a turnover.
In the championship game, Wittenberg toppled two-time defending NCAC tournament champion Ohio Wesleyan, 72-58, on the same court where the Battling Bishops had won the 2002 title.
Wittenberg expanded an eight-point halftime advantage to 61-38 with 8:17 remaining in the game, and then hung on to close out the win. The Tigers took 26 more shots from the field because they won the rebounding battle 40-31, including 16-5 on the offensive end, and forced 25 OWU turnovers, compared to 14 by the Tigers.
Wittenberg was paced offensively by senior forward Meghan Bruggeman (Middletown, Ohio/Fenwick), who had 15 points and six rebounds. Warden added 10 points and five rebounds, Keller chipped in with eight points and seven boards, Campbell finished with nine points and five assists and Rolf hit for eight points, four rebounds and four steals.
Campbell, Bruggeman and Rolf were named to the All-Tournament Team. Rolf earned the added recognition of Most Outstanding Player.
Next: 3/5 at Baldwin-Wallace, 7:30 p.m.
NCAA Division III Tournament
February 25, 2003
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| Kate Rolf |
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| Meghan Bruggeman |
Wittenberg never trailed in the game, but it took a while for the Tigers to really open things up. Leading 39-28 with 1:58 left in the first half, Wittenberg scored the last seven points before the halftime break to move out to a commanding 18-point advantage. The Tigers built on that by scoring eight of the first 10 points of the second half and slowly pulling away to the final 37-point margin of victory.
Senior guard Kate Rolf (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Carroll) found her shooting touch early in the game and went on to score 20 points. Rolf hit 7-of-13 shots from the field, including 4-of-8 from three-point range, and also pulled down four rebounds and snagged five steals. Also finishing in double figures were senior forward Meghan Bruggeman (Middletown, Ohio/Fenwick) with 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field and eight rebounds and junior forward Haley Warden (Loveland, Ohio/Indian Hill), who added 10 points and nine rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench.
Saturday's regular season finale was more of the same as the Tigers surprisingly crushed the NCAC's third-place team, Denison, which came in with a six-game win streak, 83-55 on Senior Recognition Day.
This one was only close at the opening tip. The Tigers claimed leads of 8-2, 23-7, 39-11 and 50-15 before heading into the locker room with a stunning 51-19 halftime advantage. Wittenberg shot 56 percent from the field in the first half, canned 7-of-10 three-pointers and forced 21 Denison turnovers in racing out to the huge lead. It was possibly Wittenberg's finest half of basketball all season, and it obviously couldn't have come at a better time with the NCAC tournament looming next week.
In the second half, Wittenberg continued to run away from Denison, eventually stretching the margin to 81-39 before emptying the back end of the bench for the final five minutes of the game. Wittenberg was led by Bruggeman with 14 points, Rolf and junior guard Amber Bishop (Batavia, Ohio/Batavia) with 11 points and junior guard Christina Fischer (Norwood, Ohio/Cincinnati St. Ursula) and senior guard Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) with 10 points.
The win capped the third perfect NCAC regular season in school history and the first since back-to-back 16-0 marks were posted in 1993-94 and 1994-95. The Tiger seniors, who have contributed to a 74-29 composite record over the last four years, were honored prior to the game. Along with Bruggeman, Rolf and Campbell, center Rebecca Meers (Moline, Ill./Moline) and forward Tiffany Keller (Massillon, Ohio/Tuslaw) made their final regular season appearances at the HPER Center. Of note, Rolf heads into the NCAC tournament ranked No. 4 in school history in scoring with 1131 career points, sixth in assists with 230 and first all-time in steals with 219. Campbell, despite playing just three seasons in the Red & White, is now tied for seventh in school history with 211 assists and ranks sixth in steals with 191.
The Tigers are back in action on Tuesday with a game at 5:30 p.m. against Oberlin. Wittenberg, the No. 1 seed in the NCAC tournament, will host the quarterfinal game Tuesday at the HPER Center and, provided the Tigers advance, will host the semifinals and finals on Friday, Feb. 28 and Saturday, March 1.
Next: 2/25 vs. Oberlin, 5:30 p.m.
NCAC Tourn. Quarterfinals
February 18, 2003
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| Kate Rolf |
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| Haley Warden |
Last week, the Tigers sewed up the title with a pair of victories, although neither came easy. On Wednesday, Wittenberg was forced to rally for a road win over third-place Earlham, 62-49. Then on Saturday, the Tigers clinched the title outright with a 66-51 win at Wooster.
The win over Earlham was a particularly tough one for the Tigers. After breezing to three easy wins the previous week, Wittenberg proved its championship mettle by overcoming a dreadful shooting performance. The Tigers made just 9 of 47 shots in the first half (19 percent) and just 24 of 87 shots in the game overall (28 percent). But Wittenberg did enough other things well to pull out the win, despite trailing 38-37 at the 10-minute mark of the second half.
The rebounding battle went decisively to Wittenberg, 60-45, and the Tigers were particularly dominant on the offensive glass, collecting a whopping 35 rebounds to 12 for the Quakers. The Tigers also did their usual defensive job, harassing Earlham into 25 turnovers, compared with 14 ballhandling miscues for Wittenberg.
Wittenberg was paced offensively by three players in double figures. Senior guard Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) led with 12 points, junior guard Christina Fischer (Norwood, Ohio/Cincinnati St. Ursula) had 10 points and senior guard Kate Rolf (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Carroll) added 10 points. Senior forward Tiffany Keller (Massillon, Ohio/Tuslaw) and junior forward Haley Warden (Loveland, Ohio/Indian Hill) contributed nine points and 10 rebounds.
The clincher came Saturday afternoon at the College of Wooster, where the Tigers romped again and improved to 19-4 overall and 14-0 in the NCAC with one week remaining in the regular season. The Tigers are now shooting for a third perfect NCAC regular season since 1994-95, and their first since completing the 1995-96 campaign with a perfect 16-0 mark.
Against Wooster, the usual suspects led the team to victories again. Rolf topped all scorers with 17 points and added a career-high 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. Campbell added 15 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals in an outstanding all-around effort. In addition, Warden chipped in with 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
For her outstanding play during the week, Rolf was named NCAC Player of the Week. She was the first Tiger player all season to garner the weekly award.
Next: 2/19 vs. Oberlin, 7:30 p.m.
2/22 vs. Denison, 2 p.m.
February 11, 2003
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| Amber Bishop |
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| Haley Warden |
The Tigers started the week with a 70-57 victory over Kenyon. Wittenberg never trailed in the game and led by as many as 21 points early in the second half. Kenyon shot the ball well but could not overcome 32 turnovers, which were converted into 34 points for the Tigers.
The Tigers were led offensively by senior forward Tiffany Keller (Massillon, Ohio/Tuslaw) and senior guard Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern), both with 12 points, and senior center Rebecca Meers (Moline, Ill./Moline), who finished with 11 points. Keller took charge in the second half, sinking four field goals in the first four minutes, lifting the Tigers to a 55-34 lead.
Wittenberg was dominating in every phase of the game in wins over Hiram, 91-37, and Allegheny, 98-45.
The Tigers got a career night from junior guard Amber Bishop (Batavia, Ohio/Batavia) against Hiram on Friday. Red-hot off the bench, Bishop scored a career-high 28 points in just 17 minutes of action on 12-of-12 shooting from the field, including 2-of-2 from three-point range, and 2-of-3 from the free throw line. The 100 percent shooting from the field tied a school and NCAC record, and the 12 straight baskets set a new mark. No one had previously made more than 11 consecutive.
Keller was the only other player in double figures with 15 points in just 16 minutes. Junior forward Haley Warden (Loveland, Ohio/Indian Hill) also had an outstanding all-around game with two points, four steals, five assists and six rebounds (five offensive) in just 10 minutes on the court.
Wittenberg forced a whopping 44 Hiram turnovers, 25 in the first half alone and dominated on the boards as well, collecting 46 rebounds to Hiram's 24, including 26 offensive caroms. On Saturday, the Tigers may have played their most complete game of the year in dismantling Allegheny. Wittenberg jumped out to a big lead early, played suffocating defense throughout and shot the ball as well as they have all season.
Allegheny committed 40 turnovers in the game, while the Tigers committed just 20 ballhandling miscues and outrebounded the Gators 40-34. The Tigers, who have not lost in 2003, went on runs of 13-0 and 15-0 in the first half to blow the game wide open before halftime. The Tigers stretched the lead to 50-17 by the break and led by as much as 57 points as reserves played the final 15 minutes of the game.
As usual, Wittenberg exhibited phenomenal balance. Keller led all scorers with 14 points, senior forward Meghan Bruggeman (Middletown, Ohio/Fenwick) added 12 points, senior guard Kate Rolf (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Carroll) chipped in with 11 points and Meers finished with 10 points. Also of note was another tremendous all-around performance off the bench by Warden, who contributed eight points, five assists, five rebounds (four offensive) and three assists.
The Tigers can clinch at least a share of the conference crown on Wednesday, but the opposition is a quality Earlham team that is currently in third place in the NCAC. Then on Saturday, Wittenberg travels to Wooster.
Next: 2/12 at Earlham, 6 p.m.
2/15 at Wooster, 2 p.m.
February 4, 2003
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| Stephanie Campbell |
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| Rebecca Meers |
Now with a 9-0 NCAC record, Wittenberg has the inside track on serving as host of the conference's tournament championship Feb. 25-March 1. The Tigers hosted the tourney a year ago but were upset in the title game by OWU in overtime and missed out on an opportunity to advance to the NCAA Division III tournament for the first time since 1998.
Playing on the road against second-place Ohio Wesleyan, Wittenberg rallied from an early 17-9 deficit to cruise to a 71-52 victory. It was the second time in less than a month that Wittenberg had beaten the Battling Bishops.
With the game tied 17-17 at the 5:39 mark of the first half, Wittenberg went on a 9-0 run in which four different players scored in a span of two minutes. That sparked the Tigers to a 38-23 halftime lead, a significant advantage that stretched to as much as 24 points thanks to a 12-4 run to open the second half.
Wittenberg hit 46 percent of its shots in the game, including 57 percent in the first half, compared to 42 percent for Ohio Wesleyan. The Tigers won the rebounding battle 37-33, including 15 offensive caroms for the visitors, and OWU lost the turnover battle 18-15. Neither team shot well from the free throw line as Wittenberg hit 58 percent and the Bishops only 47 percent. Senior center Rebecca Meers (Moline, Ill./Moline) led all scorers with 18 points as she hit seven of her 11 shots from the field and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. Senior guard Kate Rolf (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Carroll) added 14 points and game-highs of eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals in a tremendous all-around performance. Senior guard Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) added 10 points and five rebounds to the cause.
Wittenberg goes back to work this week on Tuesday in a game at Kenyon and then home dates on Friday and Saturday with Hiram and Allegheny. A clean sweep of those games would bring Wittenberg within one win of clinching at least a share of the conference regular season title and home court advantage for the NCAC tournament. Saturday's game against Allegheny will be televised on tape delay by Time Warner Cable in the Dayton area. Broadcast details will be released later this week.
Next: 2/4 at Kenyon, 7:30 p.m.
2/7 vs. Hiram, 6 p.m.
2/8 vs. Allegheny, 2 p.m.
January 28, 2003
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| Tiffany Keller |
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| Rebecca Meers |
Last week, the Tigers took two more steps toward defending their regular season conference crown with victories over Kenyon and Wooster. Both came at home in the friendly confines of the HPER Center, and they sewed up a perfect 8-0 record in the first round.
First up was a Wednesday night victory over the Kenyon Ladies, a physical, defensive-oriented team. The resourceful Tigers overcame a game challenge from Kenyon to claim a 65-57 win.
The difference in the game were 30 Kenyon turnovers by Wittenberg's relentless full-court press. Wittenberg got out to an early lead but couldn't shake the Ladies. Kenyon made a three-pointer just before the halftime buzzer to take a 28-27 lead into the locker room, but Wittenberg came out firing to start the second 20 minutes. Kenyon scratched back into a tie at 52-52 with 6:17 remaining in the game but missed a free throw and Wittenberg responded with an 8-3 run to open the lead back up.
The Tigers were paced offensively by senior forward Tiffany Keller (Massillon, Ohio/Tuslaw), who scored 18 points. Senior guards Kate Rolf (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Carroll) and Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) added 12 points apiece in the winning effort.
In the second game of the week, the Tigers faced a 15-4 first half deficit against the Wooster Scots. But Wittenberg responded like champions, scoring 18 straight points and eventually eased their way to a 36-25 halftime lead. While Wooster threatened at several points in the final 20 minutes, the game was never really in doubt as the Tigers then coasted home to a 76-56 victory.
The Tigers got season-highs on the offensive end from Keller and senior center Rebecca Meers (Moline, Ill./Moline). Keller finished with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor and 5-of-6 from the foul line. Meers added 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field. Campbell added 10 points, four assists and six steals. For the game, Wittenberg shot 50 percent from the field as a team and forced 32 Wooster turnovers, while committing just 20 of their own.
The Tigers have a few days to rest before opening up the second half of the conference season against two-time defending NCAC tournament champion Ohio Wesleyan Saturday in Delaware. The Bishops are two games behind Wittenberg in the current standings and lost 71-62 to the Tigers in Springfield earlier this season.
Next: 2/1 at Ohio Wesleyan, 2 p.m.
January 21, 2003
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| Kate Rolf |
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| Amber Bishop |
On an individual basis, the big news was made by senior guard Kate Rolf (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Carroll), who scored her 1,000th career point in the Jan. 15 win over Earlham. She became just the sixth player to reach the 1,000-point plateau. On her current pace, Rolf will likely work her way into the top four in school history in scoring. The top spot is held by Sarah Jurewicz '98 with 1,297 points.
Since the last report, Wittenberg rallied for a solid 76-70 win at Thomas More on Dec. 20 as Rolf poured in a season-high 25 points and junior guard Amber Bishop (Batavia, Ohio/Batavia) chipped in with a season high of her own, 17 points. That win was followed 10 days later by a disappointing 73-66 loss at nationally ranked Wilmington, the preseason Ohio Athletic Conference favorite.
The NCAC portion of the 2002-03 campaign opened for the Tigers on Jan. 3 at Hiram, and Wittenberg won handily, 91-42. All 15 players in uniform scored in the game, and two freshmen, guard Carrie Jones (Greenville, Ohio/Greenville) and forward Joyce Dindo (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit), finished with career highs in points at 12 and 10 respectively. The next day at Allegheny, Wittenberg won convincingly again as all 15 players scored at least one point and four players finished in double figures for points, led by senior forward Meghan Bruggeman (Middletown, Ohio/Fenwick) with 13.
The next four games were a huge stretch of the Tigers' season and may have started the necessary momentum for a second consecutive conference crown. Wittenberg defeated two-time defending NCAC Tournament champion Ohio Wesleyan 71-62 on Jan. 8 as senior forward Tiffany Keller (Massillon, Ohio/Tuslaw) showed the way with a season-high 18 points.
The next night out, the Tigers overwhelmed another title contender, taking out Denison on the road by a 75-61 count behind Bruggeman's 16 points and 15 points from junior forward Haley Warden (Loveland, Ohio/Indian Hill). On Jan. 15, Wittenberg took the measure of a third straight NCAC contender, defeating much-improved Earlham 65-55 without leading scorer Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern), who missed the game because of class commitments. Balance was the key without her as four starters finished in double figures, led by Rolf with 12 points as she topped the 1,000-point plateau. Rounding things out, Keller and Bruggeman each finished with 15 points at Oberlin on Saturday as the Tigers improved to 6-0 in the conference with an 81-64 win.
NCAC action continues this week with a pair of home dates. The Wednesday night game against Kenyon will be broadcast by Time Warner Cable at 9 p.m. Wednesday and 8 p.m. on Saturday in the Dayton/Springfield area. Subscribers are encouraged to check their local listings for the channel in their area. Then on Saturday, the Tigers host Wooster.
Next: 1/22 vs. Kenyon, 6 p.m.
1/25 vs. Wooster, 2 p.m.
December 17, 2002
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| Haley Warden |
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| Stephanie Campbell |
The action started on Dec. 6-7 at the Calvin College Tournament. In the semifinals, a 10-0 run early in the second half kickstarted Wittenberg to a 69-55 win over Case Western Reserve. Wittenberg was paced by the hot shooting of senior guard Kate Rolf (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Carroll), who poured in a game-high 21 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field and 7-of-8 shooting from the free throw line. Senior guard Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) added 16 points and junior forward Haley Warden (Loveland, Ohio/Cincinnati Country Day) chipped in with 13 points and eight rebounds in her first career start.
In the championship game, the Tigers never led and eventually surrendered a 72-64 decision to Tri-State. Wittenberg was done in by a slow start and an inability to hit from the outside after falling behind by as much as 19 points in the first half before cutting the lead down to four on a couple occasions in the final minutes.
The Tigers got 17 points off the bench from junior guard Amber Bishop (Batavia, Ohio/Batavia) and a season-high 14 points and six rebounds from senior center Rebecca Meers (Moline, Ill./Moline). Warden finished with 11 points and seven boards and Campbell added 10 points, her sixth straight game in 2002-03 in double figures.
The highest peak of what has been an up-and-down season to date was climbed on Dec. 14 when the Tigers upended 13th-ranked DePauw, 69-64. Wittenberg led most of the game against DePauw, an NCAA Division III Final Four team a year ago. While the Tigers' lead grew to as much as seven points late in the first half, the two teams went into the locker room at halftime tied at 35.
The Tigers scored the last nine points of the game after heading into the final two minutes trailing by two. After DePauw committed a turnover, Campbell missed a three-pointer but junior point guard Christina Fischer (Norwood, Ohio/Cincinnati St. Ursula) was in the right place at the right time, picking up the rebound on the weak side and dropping in a layup as she was fouled. She converted the three-point play and then played suffocating defense on the ensuing DePauw possession, forcing another turnover. Campbell iced the game with two free throws with 14 seconds left. She was 10-of-11 for the game.
Campbell finished with a season-high 29 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the floor, including 3-of-6 from three-point range, and the aforementioned free throws. Rolf added 15 points and Fischer chipped in with nine points, two rebounds, two assists and, most importantly, no turnovers in 35 minutes of play.
Next: 12/20 at Thomas More, 2 p.m.
December 3, 2002
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| Meghan Bruggeman |
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| Stephanie Campbell |
Wittenberg took control from the outset. The Tigers scored 15 of the game's first 20 points and never looked back, eventually pulling away by as much as 21 points late in the second half.
The difference in the game was shooting percentage. Capital managed just 29.4 percent from the floor, including a 1-for-14 performance from beyond the three-point line. Wittenberg shot 40 percent from the floor, including 4-of-12 from three-point range.
Wittenberg put three players in double figures, led for a third straight game by senior guard Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern), who hit for 16 points to lead all scorers. Senior forward Meghan Bruggeman (Middletown, Ohio/Fenwick) hit for 15 points, including 6-of-7 from the free throw line, and senior guard Kate Rolf (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Carroll) also drained 15 points. Bruggeman and Campbell shared rebounding honors with seven each.
Next: 12/3 at Baldwin-Wallace, 5 p.m.
November 26, 2002
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| Amber Bishop |
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| Stephanie Campbell |
Against Albion on Friday, the Tigers used a big spurt early in the second half to put some distance between them and the visiting Britons. Keying that run was senior guard Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) with 15 points and four assists. Junior guard Amber Bishop (Batavia, Ohio/Batavia) chipped in with 13 points.
In the loss to Otterbein, a bigger, more experienced team that wasn't missing four players like Wittenberg was due to the national volleyball tournament and a key injury, Campbell led several second-half charges that came up just short with her three-point shooting. She finished with a team-high 17 points. Senior forwards Meghan Bruggeman (Middletown, Ohio/Fenwick) and Rebecca Meers (Moline, Ill./Moline) each finished with 10 points, as did senior guard Kate Rolf (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Carroll).
Campbell and Bishop were both named to the all-tournament team. The Tigers have a very tough schedule ahead of them with game's tonight against Capital and next Tuesday at Baldwin-Wallace, both annually among the best in the Ohio Athletic Conference.
Next: 12/3 at Baldwin-Wallace, 5 p.m.
November 19, 2002
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| Kate Rolf |
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| Stephanie Campbell |
Five outstanding seniors, all of whom will play an important role on this year's team, lead the long list of letterwinners in 2002-03. Senior guards Kate Rolf (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Carroll) and Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) lead the charge for a third consecutive season starting together in the backcourt. Rolf paced the Tigers in scoring, rebounding and assists each of the last two years while earning All-NCAC honors twice. Campbell ranked second on the team in scoring and rebounding and led the Tigers in steals each of the last two years.
The third returning starter is forward Tiffany Keller (Massillon, Ohio/Tuslaw), who always joins the team late due to time commitments as one of the top volleyball players in the Great Lakes Region. Keller started the last 19 games of the 2001-02 season and ranked among the team's leaders in scoring, rebounding, blocks and shooting percentage after earning NCAC Volleyball Player of the Year honors during the fall season.
The other starting spots are up in the air, with two other seniors figuring prominently in the mix. Senior forward Meghan Bruggeman (Middletown, Ohio/Fenwick) came on strong last year after seeing limited playing time her first two seasons in Springfield. She is a strong post player who averaged 5.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per game in 2001-02. The other senior is post Rebecca Meers (Moline, Ill./Moline), who has appeared in every game the last two years, primarily off the bench. Last year, she averaged 4.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per outing.
Other returning letterwinners include junior guard Christina Fischer (Norwood, Ohio/Cincinnati St. Ursula), junior forward Haley Warden (Loveland, Ohio/Cincinnati Indian Hill), junior guard Amber Bishop (Batavia, Ohio/Batavia) and sophomore guard Emilie Schmid (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson), who will join the team after the conclusion of Wittenberg's run in the NCAA Division III Volleyball Tournament. The other returner is junior forward Geri Woessner (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood), who is sidelined until February with a knee injury suffered during soccer season this fall.
Wittenberg has its usual difficult schedule, including three teams with winning records involved in the Kiwanis-Wittenberg Tip-Off Classic Nov. 22-23 at the HPER Center. Among the other heavyweights the Tigers will face this year: perennial national title contenders Baldwin-Wallace, Capital, DePauw and Calvin.
Next: 11/22-23 Kiwanis-Wittenberg
Tip-Off Classic
November 5, 2002
The Tiger women's basketball team joined the men's team as the 2002-03 preseason NCAC favorite in balloting by both the media and coaches. The information was also released during the conference's annual media day festivities on Tuesday.
In the women's balloting, the Tigers took 25 first-place votes, 19 of 32 from the media and six from league coaches to outdistance defending NCAC tournament champion Ohio Wesleyan. The Tigers have claimed eight NCAC titles and is the defending regular season champion. They return three starters and 10 letterwinners from a team that went 21-6 a year ago.
The season starts on Friday, Nov. 22 in the Kiwanis-Wittenberg Tip-Off Classic at the HPER Center. Wittenberg opens against Albion in the first semifinal game, while St. Thomas and Otterbein will face one another in the other semifinal.
Next: 11/22-23 Kiwanis-Wittenberg
Tip-Off Classic
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© 2007 Wittenberg University
Non-discriminatory Policy Web Use Policy & Disclaimer Privacy Policy
© 2007 Wittenberg University