Ohio Wesleyan 61, Wittenberg 51

Jan. 20, 2007

Junior post Kelli Lester (Pataskala/Watkins Memorial) scored 6 points during an 11-0 second-half run that broke open a close game and helped Ohio Wesleyan take a North Coast Athletic Conference win over Wittenberg on Saturday at Branch Rickey Arena.

Wittenberg had closed to within 41-39 on a pair of free throws by Elise Jenkins with 10:34 left in regulation time, but the Tigers would not score for over 6 minutes.

Meanwhile, senior wing Rachel Messaros (Reynoldsburg/Bishop Hartley) hit a fast break lay-in and Lester followed with a lay-in and a pair of free throws. Messaros added 2 more free throws to make it a 49-39 game, and when sophomore post Katie Hamilton (Hilliard/Darby) added a free throw and Lester sank 2 more charity tosses, the Bishops held a 52-39 lead with 4:43 to go.

Jenkins ended the Tiger drought with a 3-pointer, and when Gina Carney followed with a putback with 4:12 to go, Wittenberg had closed to within 52-44.

Messaros responded with a pair of free throws and a lay-in to stretch the lead back to 56-44 with 2:25 to play, and the Tigers would not come closer than 8 points during the remainder of the game.

The first half featured 6 ties and a handful of lead changes. Wittenberg built a 24-17 lead with 4:24 left in the period, but sophomore post Laurel Lawson (Navarre/Fairless) had a pair of buckets and junior wing Steffi Graf (Poland/Seminary) drilled a 3-pointer, and when Lester followed with a pair of free throws with :52 left in the half, Ohio Wesleyan had a 26-25 lead.

The Tigers got a 3-pointer from Andrew Hackett and a buzzer-beater from Rachel Clark-Haggy to take a 30-28 lead at the intermission.

Ohio Wesleyan opened the second half scoring with a 3-pointer by senior guard Emily Lloyd (Canton/Massillon Jackson) for a 31-30 lead, and the Bishops would not trail again.

Lester led the Bishops with 16 points and 5 rebounds and shared the team lead with 3 assists. Messaros finished with 14 points and Graf added 13 points. Lloyd also shared the team lead with 3 assists.

Ohio Wesleyan went 26-for-30 from the line in the game. The Bishops' free throw percentage of .867 broke the school record for 30 or more attempts. The previous mark of .838 (31-for-37) was set against Allegheny on Feb. 16, 2002.

Clark-Haggy scored 13 points to lead Wittenberg. Jenkins finished with 10 points and shared the team lead with 3 assists, and Kathy Hittle led the Tigers with 9 rebounds and shared the team lead with 3 assists.

Box Score

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