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Ohio Wesleyan 74, Wittenberg 72 (1/9/2002)

Junior post Mindy Hammond (Columbus/DeSales) sank a free throw to break a 72-72 tie and put Ohio Wesleyan ahead to stay and the Bishops withstood a flurry of Wittenberg shots in the final 20 seconds to hold on for a North Coast Athletic Conference win on Wednesday in Branch Rickey Arena.

Ohio Wesleyan had taken a 72-70 lead on a jumper by senior post Katy Sturtz (Worthington/Columbus Watterson) with 1:20 to play, but Wittenberg evened the game on a pair of Stephanie Campbell free throws with :48.2 remaining.

The Bishops called a timeout with :37.0 remaining and Hammond was fouled almost immediately after the ensuing inbounds pass. She hit the first free throw, giving the Bishops a 73-72 lead with :35.9 left, but missed the second. Freshman wing Kelly Heil (Sylvania/Southview) snared the offensive rebound and Ohio Wesleyan was able to run the clock down to :26.5 before senior guard Michelle Wolfe (Gahanna/Lincoln) was fouled. Wolfe hit the second of her 2 free throws for a 74-72 Bishop lead.

Sturtz drew a charge on Campbell's drive along the right baseline with :16.4 to play, but Campbell redeemed herself by stealing the ball on Ohio Wesleyan's ensuing possession. Campbell missed a shot and the rebound was contested between Heil and a Tiger forward, resulting in a held ball with possession going to Wittenberg with :12.6 to play.

Kate Rolf took the first shot for the Tigers, Tiffany Keller misfired on a putback and Meghan Bruggerman got the last shot for Wittenberg, but her shot was blocked by Sturtz and the ball sailed out of bounds at the buzzer.

Neither team led by more than 6 points during a nip-and-tuck first half. Wittenberg enjoyed a 37-31 halftime lead and pushed that to 8 points when Rolf drove the lane to open the scoring in the second half.

But Ohio Wesleyan came right back with 7 straight points by Sturtz and Hammond. Heil converted a 3-point play to tie the game at 41-41 with 18:02 left and followed with another drive to give the lead back to the Bishops.

Ohio Wesleyan's biggest lead of the second half was at 57-52 on a putback by sophomore post Kristin Thompson (Logan) with 9:33 to play, but Wittenberg responded with a 10-4 run, taking a 62-61 lead on Bruggeman's drive along the right baseline with 5:46 to play. That would be the Tigers' final lead of the game, although Wittenberg did tie the score twice more.

Sturtz led the Bishops with 23 points and 8 rebounds, while Heil finished with 17 points and 7 rebounds. Hammond scored 16 points and led the Bishops with 6 assists and Wolfe finished with 10 points.

Rolf led Wittenberg with 15 points and Keller and Bruggeman scored 10 points apiece.