Defiance 70, Ohio Wesleyan 66

Dec. 12, 2003

Paula Sayen and Meghann Savard each sank a pair of free throws in the final minute as Defiance held off an Ohio Wesleyan rally to take a non-conference win over the Bishops on Friday evening at Branch Rickey Arena.

Ohio Wesleyan had jumped to an early lead behind the torrid outside shooting of junior guard Celina Dopoulos (Strongsville), who drilled a pair of 3-pointers to open the scoring.

Defiance came back behind a pair of free throws and a basket by Savard and then 7 straight points by Meta Gerding to take a 14-11 lead, but the Bishops responded with another Dopoulos 3-pointer and a putback bucket by junior wing Kelly Heil (Sylvania/Southview) to take a 17-14 lead.

Savard led a Yellow Jacket spurt later in the half, scoring twice during an 8-0 run that gave Defiance a 24-19 lead with 7:00 left in the period.

Once again, Ohio Wesleyan responded, this time with a pair of Dopoulos baskets in transition that highlighted a 10-2 run that gave the Bishops a 29-26 lead with 3:22 to play before halftime. The Bishops added baskets by Dopoulos and freshman post Tifini Ray (Hilliard/Davidson) and took a 33-32 lead into the locker room.

The second half was more of the same kind of back-and-forth action, with 5 lead changes and 4 ties during the first 8-plus minutes of play.

Evans sank a 3-pointer to break a 45-45 tie with 11:07 left in regulation time, and the Yellow Jackets eventually extended the lead to 56-51 behind the scoring of Anna Fretz.

Trailing, 66-59, with less than 2 minutes to play, Ohio Wesleyan came back one more time, getting a lay-in from senior guard Krystal Sensabaugh (Wapakoneta) with 1:32 left and a big 3-pointer from Heil with :55 to play to slice the deficit to 66-64.

Sayen was fouled with :48 on the clock and hit both end of the one-and-one to extend the lead to 68-64, but the Bishops misfired on their next 2 possessions before Savard added a pair of free throws with :17 left to hike the lead to 70-64.

Heil scored a rebound goal in the closing seconds to account for the 70-66 final.

Dopoulos led the Bishops with a career-high 26 points, scoring 20 of them in the first half. Heil finished with 15 points and a team-leading 10 rebounds and Ray added 10 points and led the Bishops with 3 assists.

Gerding and Savard led Defiance with 12 points apiece, with Gerding also posting team bests of 10 rebounds and 4 assists. Fretz added 11 points and Jill Evans contributed 10 points.

Back to the top Battling Bishop Athletics page
   
Season Overviews | Fall Schedules | Winter Schedules | Spring Schedules
Team Rosters | Team Statistics | Coaching Staff | Facilities & Maps
Sports Releases | History | Questionnaires | Photo Galleries | "W" Association
 
OWU Home | Search | Info & Tickets | Fall Scores | Winter Scores | Spring Scores
 
Sports Information | Tel: 740-368-3698 | E-Mail: owusport@owu.edu
Mowry Alumni Center, Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH 43015
 
What do you think about this site? Fill out a quick feedback form.
 
Copyright © 2003 Ohio Wesleyan University. All rights reserved.
Send Web site questions and comments to websrvcs@owu.edu.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Copyright Issues | Affirmative Action