Ohio Wesleyan 76, North Central 68

Dec. 29, 2006

Senior wing Rachel Messaros (Reynoldsburg/Bishop Hartley) scored 10 points during a 16-3 first-half run that gave Ohio Wesleyan the lead for good, and the Bishops held off a North Central second-half rally to take a win over the Cardinals in the first round of the Bishop Classic on Friday night at Branch Rickey Arena.

Ohio Wesleyan advances to the Bishop Classic championship game against Ohio Dominican, a 73-58 winner over Mount Union in Friday's other first-round game. Saturday's action will match Mount Union against North Central in the consolation game at 1 p.m., to be followed by the championship game at 3 p.m.

North Central had tied the game at 23-23 with 6:00 left in the first half when Amber Cibrario was fouled while attempting a 3-pointer and sank all 3 free throws.

The Bishops broke the tie with a pair of free throws by junior post Kelli Lester (Pataskala/Watkins Memorial), and after a North Central turnover, Messaros buried a 3-pointer. Freshman guard Erica Gibson (Detroit, Mich./Detroit Country Day) then came up with another steal and fed Messaros for a lay-in to stretch the Ohio Wesleyan lead to 30-23 with 5:14 left in the half.

North Central closed to within 30-26 when Jessica Davis hit a free throw and Brianne Parra sank a jumper, but Ohio Wesleyan reeled off the next 9 points, getting 3-pointers from Messaros and junior wing Steffi Graf (Poland/Seminary) and capping the run with a fast break lay-in by Messaros.

Ohio Wesleyan extended its lead to 48-33 on a 3-pointer by sophomore post Laurel Lawson (Navarre/Fairless) with 16:47 left in regulation time, and the Bishops still held a 62-48 lead on Lawson's bucket with 8:03 to play.

The Cardinals got back into the game by scoring the next 9 points, with Parra hitting 3 buckets and Gia Navarra contributing 3 free throws. North Central came within 5 points on 4 different occasions, including twice in the last 2 minutes, but that was as close as the Cardinals would come as the Bishops were able to seal the game at the line, hitting 5 of 6 from the stripe during the final minute.

Messaros led the Bishops with a career-high 26 points, going 10-for-15 from the field. Graf finished with 12 points, Lester scored 11 points and led all players with a career-high 12 rebounds, and junior wing Lindsey Macklin (Columbus/Bexley) added 10 points. Senior guard Emily Lloyd (Canton/Massillon Jackson) led the Bishops with 5 assists.

Parra led the Cardinals with 17 points, Jessica Davis scored 14 points and Navarra finished with 12 points and shared the team lead with 4 assists. Danielle Tinkoff led North Central with 9 rebounds and shared the team lead with 4 assists.

In Friday's first game, Ohio Dominican opened the game with a 15-4 run and withstood a Mount Union comeback to advance to the championship game.

The Purple Raiders scored 7 straight points after the Panthers' game-opening run, with Alicia Williams getting a pair of lay-ins and Annie Montgomery hitting a 3-pointers. Mount Union would come within 17-14 on another Montgomery 3-pointer, but the Panthers stretched their lead to 35-23 at halftime and pulled away during the second half.

Krissy Haines led Ohio Dominican with 23 points, Katalin Beck added 17 points and led the Panthers with 6 rebounds, and Amanda Ritzler scored 11 points. Tristin Miracle led Ohio Dominican with 6 assists.

Williams led Mount Union with 20 points and 5 rebounds, while Meghan Simons dished out a team-high 5 assists.

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