Denison 68, Ohio Wesleyan 63

Jan. 9, 2008

Freshman post Kayla Gordon (St. Louis, Mo./Mehlville) scored 14 points and junior post Katie Hamilton (Hilliard/Darby) added 11 as Ohio Wesleyan pared a 15-point second-half deficit to 3 points with just over 3 minutes to play, but Denison went 7-for-8 from the line during the final 2 minutes to hold on for a North Coast Athletic Conference win over the Bishops on Wednesday at Branch Rickey Arena.

The Big Red had taken a 40-25 lead on a 3-pointer by Ellen O'Brien with 16:39 left in regulation time, but Ohio Wesleyan got back into the game with a 7-0 run that included 2 lay-ins by Gordon and free throws from Hamilton, senior wing Steffi Graf (Poland/Seminary) and senior wing Lindsey Macklin (Columbus/Bexley).

Sarah Perrine ended the Bishop run with a 3-pointer, and the Big Red would keep the lead between 6 and 9 points for the next 7 minutes of action.

Sophomore guard Lauren Gentene (Mason) then hit back-to-back buckets to give the Bishops a spark, bringing Ohio Wesleyan within 52-48 with 5:23 left in regulation time, but Perrine again countered for Denison, hitting a fast break lay-in before Shaina Kaiser converted a 3-point play after a steal and lay-in and Carolyn Simpson added a free throw to stretch the Big Red lead to 58-48 with 4:33 to go.

The Bishops fought back with a putback by Hamilton, a pair of Macklin free throws and a 3-point play from Gordon to close within 58-55 with 3:07 to go, but Denison got another timely 3-pointer, this one from O'Brien, for a 61-55 lead.

Ohio Wesleyan would close to within 4 points on 4 more occasions, but Denison scored each time to hold on for the win.

The Bishops started out slowly, falling behind, 8-2, during the first 7 minutes of the game, but got back into the contest quickly, scoring the next 7 points on a Hamilton free throw and lay-in and a pair of buckets by freshman wing Tyler Cordell (Columbus/St. Francis DeSales).

Ohio Wesleyan led, 12-10, on a 3-point play by Hamilton when Katie St. Clair buried a 3-pointer to kick off a 21-5 run. Haley Dahlgard, O'Brien, Jackie Pachuta and Perrine also hit 3-pointers during the Denison spurt, which gave the Big Red a 31-17 lead with 2:02 left in the first half, and Denison would lead by a 32-21 margin at halftime before taking the 15-point lead early in the second period.

Gordon led the Bishops with 19 points, while Hamilton finished with 17 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Graf added 10 points and shared the Bishop lead with 3 assists, and freshman guard Pam Quigney (Mentor) also dished out 3 assists.

O'Brien led Denison with 18, and Perrine finished with 15 points. Simpson led the Big Red with 8 rebounds and Perrine and Dahlgard had 4 assists apiece.

Box Score