Ohio Wesleyan 87, Wittenberg 73

Jan. 26, 2008

Junior post Laurel Lawson (Navarre/Fairless) scored 8 points during a 17-3 first-half run that put Ohio Wesleyan ahead to stay, and the Bishops withstood a second-half Wittenberg rally to take a North Coast Athletic Conference win on Saturday at Branch Rickey Arena.

The 87 points was the most ever scored by Ohio Wesleyan in a game against Wittenberg. Only once had the Bishops surpassed 80 points against the Tigers, that coming in an 81-75 win in the 2002 NCAC tournament championship game. Ohio Wesleyan's highest single-game point total in a regulation game against Wittenberg was 78 points, once during the 1996-97 season at Wittenberg and once during the 1999-2000 season at Branch Rickey Arena.

Wittenberg had taken a 17-14 lead on a lay-in by Katie Gregorevich before Ohio Wesleyan started its run with a fast break lay-in by freshman wing Tyler Cordell (Columbus/St. Francis DeSales).

Lawson followed with a 3-pointer that put the Bishops ahead to stay, and after Wiitenberg closed to 19-18 when Ali Rohlfs hit the second of 2 free throws with 7:20 remaining, Lawson nailed another 3-pointer just 10 seconds later for a 22-18 Bishop lead.

Senior wing Lindsey Macklin (Columbus/Bexley) followed with a 3-point play, and after another Gregorevich lay-in, senior wing Steffi Graf (Poland/Seminary) hit back-to-back lay-ins and Lawson followed with another layup for a 31-20 Ohio Wesleyan lead with 4:31 left in the first half.

Gregorevich scored to bring Wittenberg within 31-22, but the Bishops assembled an 11-3 spurt during a span of less than 2 minutes late in the half, with junior post Katie Hamilton (Hilliard/Darby) contributing a bucket, Graf hitting a lay-in and a pair of free throws, Macklin sinking a pair of free throws, and senior post Kelli Lester (Pataskala/Watkins Memorial) finishing things off with a 3-pointer that gave Ohio Wesleyan a 42-25 lead with 1:04 left in the period.

Ohio Wesleyan stretched its lead to 20 points on Graf's 3-pointer early in the second half, and the Bishops still led, 57-38, with 13:32 remaining in regulation time when the Tigers came back on the strength of inside scoring from Gregorevich and help from Stephanie Boardman, who contributed a pair of lay-ins, and Katherine Hueter, who hit a 3-pointer and added a pair of lay-ins. Hueter's second lay-in brought the Tigers within 64-54 with 8:34 to go, and when Rachel Kohlruss hit the second of 2 free throws at the 8:00 mark, Wittenberg was within 64-55.

Freshman guard Pam Quigney (Mentor) answered with a 3-pointer for Ohio Wesleyan, restoring the Bishop lead to 69-57, and the margin would remain in double digits through the remainder of the contest.

Lawson led the Bishops with 16 points, while Graf followed with 15 points, freshman post Kayla Gordon (St. Louis, Mo./Mehlville) scored 13 points and Lester finished with 11 points and a team-high 7 rebounds. Senior guard Kathleen Cooper (Columbus/Upper Arlington) dished out a game-high 6 assists.

Ohio Wesleyan hit 18 of 28 field goal attempts during the first half, with the .643 field goal percentage breaking the school record of .622 (23-37) set in the first half of a game against Denison on Jan. 17, 1990. The Bishops shot 60 percent (15-for-25) during the second half and finished the game with a .623 field goal percentage, connecting on 33 of 53 from the field.

Gregorevich led the Tigers with 25 points and 9 rebounds, while Rohlfs finished with 16 points and Hueter contributed 12 points.

Box Score