Ohio Wesleyan 55, Earlham 51

Feb. 15, 2003

Junior post Tiffany Barbee (Detroit, Mich./Cass Technical) sank a free throw to break a 51-51 tie, sophomore post Erica Brizendine (Grove City) followed with 2 free throws to add to the Bishop lead and freshman guard Amanda Nanney (Cincinnati/Mother of Mercy) added a free throw to seal a North Coast Athletic Conference win over Earlham on Saturday at Branch Rickey Arena.

The win was the 300th career victory for Ohio Wesleyan head coach Nan Carney-DeBord. Carney-DeBord, in her 17th season at Ohio Wesleyan, is the 29th active NCAA Division III coach to reach the 300-win mark. Her career mark of 300-140 translates into a winning percentage of .682.

The Bishop free throws in the final minute of play wrapped up a nailbiting second half that saw 12 lead changes and 6 ties. The biggest lead in the second half was 4 points.

Earlham had taken a 47-45 lead on Lindsey Chappell's follow shot with 3:57 remaining in regulation time, but the Bishops tied it on Barbee's lay-in with 2:35 remaining and took the lead on Brizendine's jumper from the lane with 2:03 to play.

Melissa Liffick came back with a jumper from the lane to tie the game at 49-49 with 1:36 to play, but Brizendine hit a jumper in transition just 11 seconds later to give the Bishops the lead before Chappell tied the game at 51-51 with a pair of free throws with 1:07 remaining.

Barbee hit the first of 2 free throws to give Ohio Wesleyan a 52-51 lead with :48.8 to play and the Quakers cleared the rebound of the second, but Earlham's Michelle Behler missed a shot and the ball went out of bounds, with Ohio Wesleyan awarded possession.

Brizendine was fouled with :20.4 to play and sank both free throws to make the score 54-51, and after Earlham's Sabrina Bruner missed a 3-point attempt, Nanney snared the rebound and was fouled. Nanney hit the second of 2 shots for the final 4-point cushion.

The start of the game was delayed over a half-hour because of difficult travel conditions for Earlham, but that seemed to make no difference to the Quakers as Earlham scored the first 6 points of the game. Rae-Rae Washington drove for a lay-in to open the scoring, then buried a jumper from the lane for a 6-0 Quaker lead.

When the Bishops finally hit the scoreboard, they did so with gusto. Sophomore wing Kelly Heil (Sylvania/Southview) heated up from outside, drilling 3 consecutive 3-pointers to fuel an 11-0 run. Chappell converted an old-fashioned 3-point play to bring Earlham within 11-9, but Heil answered with a fourth consecutive long-range bucket for a 14-9 Bishop lead with 12:30 left in the first half.

Earlham chipped away at the lead, however, and for most of the final 8 minutes of the first half, the teams traded the lead back and forth. The Quakers got the final 2 baskets of the period, with Michelle Behler hitting a difficult bank shot from 15 feet and then sneaking behind the Bishop defense for a putback with :26 to play as Earlham took a 25-22 halftime lead.

The Quakers took their biggest lead of the second half on Chappell's 3-point play with 17:59 left in the game, making the score 30-26, but Ohio Wesleyan came back with the help of 3-pointers by Heil and Nanney to tie the game at 34-34 with 14:30 to play.

From that point, there was only one lead of 3 points and one lead of 2 points until the score was tied at 51-51.

Brizendine led the Bishops with 18 points and shared the team lead with 7 rebounds, while Heil finished with 17 points and shared the team lead with 7 boards. Heil tied Ohio Wesleyan records with 5 3-point field goals and 12 3-point field goal attempts. Barbee also shared the team lead with 7 rebounds. Junior guard Krystal Sensabaugh (Wapakoneta) led the Bishops with 3 assists.

Chappell led all players with 21 points and 15 rebounds. Behler and Washington added 12 points each for the Quakers, with Behler also dishing out a team-high 3 assists.

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