Wittenberg Falls To Hot-Shooting Allegheny

Less than 24 hours after turning in perhaps their finest defensive effort of the 2011-12 season, the Wittenberg Tigers ran into a buzzsaw as Allegheny hit more than 50 percent of its three-point attempts in a 69-61 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) victory.

The loss dropped the Tigers back to .500 both overall at 6-6 and in the NCAC at 2-2. Allegheny bounced back from a loss to nationally ranked DePauw a day earlier to improve to 9-5 overall and 4-1 in the conference.

Wittenberg led for much of the first half before Allegheny ended the opening 20 minutes on a 14-2 run that turned a 23-17 Tiger advantage into a 31-25 deficit at the intermission. The Tigers managed to get no closer than four points in the second half as the Gators drilled 5-of-8 shots from distance.

For the game, Allegheny his 43 percent from the field but 53 percent from beyond the three-point arc (9-of-17). Erica Restich led the way with 25 points, powered by a school record-tying 7-of-9 shooting from three-point range.

Wittenberg, which forced 22 Allegheny turnovers but lost the all-important rebounding battle by six, was led by freshman Katelyn Haralamos (Maineville, Ohio/Kings), who finished with 14 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. The Tigers' other double-figure scorer was sophomore Amber Rice (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern), who added 13 points, including 3-of-5 from distance.

Also of note was the play of senior Sarah Watson (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) with seven points, seven rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals, and senior Lyndsey Clark (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh), who stuffed the stats sheet with nine points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals.