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Ohio Wesleyan 81, Wittenberg 75 (2/23/2002)

SPRINGFIELD -- Junior post Mindy Hammond (Columbus/DeSales) hit a free throw to put the Bishops ahead to stay and sophomore post Tiffany Barbee (Detroit, Mich./Cass Technical) followed with 2 baskets as Ohio Wesleyan knocked off Wittenberg in overtime in the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament championship game on Saturday at Wittenberg's HPER Center.

With the win, Ohio Wesleyan receives the NCAC's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III tournament. The complete NCAA bracket will be announced on Sunday.

Wittenberg had taken a 75-72 lead on a 3-pointer by Emilie Schmid with 2:37 left in the overtime period, but the Bishops responded with a Hammond jumper to close to within 75-74 with 2:10 left, and after a Wittenberg miss, Hammond was fouled and hit both free throws to give Ohio Wesleyan a 76-75 lead with 1:29 remaining.

The Tigers missed shots on their next 2 possessions and Barbee hit lay-ins for the Bishops on the other end, the second off a bullet pass from senior guard Michelle Wolfe (Gahanna/Lincoln) to hike the lead to 80-75 with :12 remaining.

Wittenberg missed a 3-point shot on its next possession and Wolfe cleared the rebound, was fouled and hit a free throw to account for the final 81-75 margin.

Wittenberg had threatened to run away with the game, taking a 22-7 lead less than 9 minutes into the contest. The lead remained in double figures for the remainder of the first half, which ended with the Tigers holding a 45-29 advantage.

The Tigers built the lead to as many as 19 points early in the second half and still led by a score of 58-40 with 11:09 to play before the Bishops came back.

Ohio Wesleyan reeled off 9 straight points, starting with a Wolfe jumper, following with 2 Barbee baskets and finishing with a 3-pointer by sophomore guard Krystal Sensabaugh (Wapakoneta) to slice the deficit to 9 points with 9:04 remaining.

Tiffany Keller answered with a 3-pointer for the Tigers to make the score 61-49 with 8:51 left in regulation, but Ohio Wesleyan rallied again, getting buckets from freshman wing Kelly Heil (Sylvania/Southview), senior post Katy Sturtz (Worthington/Columbus Watterson) and Barbee before Wolfe swished a 3-pointer to bring the Bishops within 61-58 with 5:45 left in regulation.

Barbee and Heil followed with jumpers to give Ohio Wesleyan a 62-61 lead with 4:02 to play, capping a 13-0 run that gave the Bishops their first lead since 3-2 at the beginning of the game.

Stephanie Campbell stopped the bleeding for Wittenberg, hitting a basket to give the Tigers the lead at 63-62, but Ohio Wesleyan rallied again, with baskets by Sturtz and Wolfe to take a 66-63 lead with 2:39 to go.

Kate Rolf then scored with 1:42 left to bring Wittenberg within 66-65, but the Tigers missed 2 front ends of one-and-ones in the next 90 seconds.

After the second Wittenberg miss, Wolfe was fouled and hit a pair of free throws with :06 to play to put Ohio Wesleyan up, 68-65, but Stephanie Campbell sent the game into overtime with a 20-footer from the left wing with :00.5 left.

Barbee led the Bishops with 22 points and 13 rebounds, whle Wolfe finished with 17 points and a team-high 5 assists. Sturtz added 12 points and Heil and Hammond scored 10 points apiece.

Rolf led Wittenberg with 21 points and 9 rebounds. Campbell added 13 points and Keller had 11 points.

Barbee received the Al Van Wie Award as the tournament's Most Valuable Player. She was joined on the all-tournament team by Wolfe, Heil, Rolf, Allegheny's Jessica Kankoski and Earlham's Lindsey Chappell.