Posted January 13 2001, 04:53 pm
Posted by: Ryan Maurer
SPRINGFIELD - The Wittenberg University men's and women's basketball teams made it a clean sweep over the Kenyon Lords and Ladies in Saturday afternoon basketball action, with the women victorious at home in the HPER Center and the men taking the measure of their hosts in Gambier, Ohio.
On the women's side, the Tigers struggled against the visiting Ladies but finally pulled away for a 64-53 victory. Sophomore guard Kate Rolf (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Carroll) led all players with 19 points, 11 rebounds, six steals and four assists. Joining Rolf in double figures were sophomore forward Tiffany Keller (Massillon, Ohio/Tuslaw) with 13 points and six rebounds and freshman forward Geri Woessner (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) contributed 10 points and five rebounds off the bench.
In what may have been the decisive statistic in the game, Wittenberg outrebounded the Ladies 53-31. The Tigers, however, were forced to overcome 29 turnovers in the game.
Wittenberg improved to 10-4 overall and 4-2 in the North Coast Athletic Conference heading into Tuesday's important road trip to Denison. Kenyon dropped to 6-7 overall and 2-5 in the NCAC.
GAMBIER, Ohio - The Wittenberg men's team ambushed the Kenyon Lords almost from the outset, moving out from a 5-5 tie early in the game to win convincingly, 92-47. The win was Wittenberg's third straight since losing its non-conference finale at Otterbein on Jan. 3.
Senior forward Ryan Taylor (Waynesfield, Ohio/Goshen) led the Tigers to a 48-24 halftime lead by scoring 17 of his game-high 21 points in the first half. Taylor has paced Wittenberg in scoring in 11 of the team's 13 games.
Joining Taylor in double figures were sophomore forward Kevin Longley (Vandalia, Ohio/Butler), junior guard Greg Rustad (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood) and junior guard Chad Mossing (Maumee, Ohio/Holland Springfield). Every Tiger player saw at least three minutes of action and scored at least one point in the game.
The Tigers improved to 11-2 overall and 5-1 in the NCAC heading into an important week of conference games. On Wednesday, Wittenberg heads to Crawfordsville, Ind. for a date with the young but talented Wabash Little Giants, who are among the league leaders even after a loss to nationally ranked Wooster today. Then next Saturday, the Tigers and College of Wooster Fighting Scots tangle in the first of their two annual confrontations. The game will be in Springfield at the HPER Center.