Ohio Wesleyan 94, Hiram 48

Feb. 23, 2008

Freshman post Kayla Gordon (St. Louis, Mo./Mehlville), senior wing Steffi Graf (Poland/Seminary) and freshman guard Pam Quigney (Mentor) hit 3-pointers during an early 15-3 run that put Ohio Wesleyan ahead to stay, and Gordon added 8 points during a 20-0 second-half run that broke open a North Coast Athletic Conference win over Hiram on Saturday at Branch Rickey Arena.

The teams will meet again on Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the NCAC tournament. Ohio Wesleyan tied for second place in the final NCAC standings, and the Bishops received the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament because of their season sweep of Wittenberg. The quarterfinal game against the seventh-seeded Terriers is scheduled to tip off at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

The Terriers jumped to an early 5-0 lead on Katie Grendel's lay-in and Ally Cook's 3-pointer during the first minute of action.

Ohio Wesleyan responded with a Gordon 3-pointer and a pair of free throws by senior post Kelli Lester (Pataskala/Watkins Memorial), and after Hiram's Alex Dellas and Gordon traded jumpers, the Bishops took the lead on Graf's 3-pointer with 16:52 left in the half. Gordon added a lay-in, and Quigney's 3-pointer extended the Bishop lead to 15-8 with 13:50 remaining in the period.

The scrappy Terriers would close to within 17-14 on Dellas's jumper at the 12:14 mark, but Ohio Wesleyan responded with a 3-pointer from freshman wing Tyler Cordell (Columbus/St. Francis DeSales), a Cordell free throw, and a Lester 3-pointer to push the lead into double digits at 24-14 with 10:34 remaining.

Hiram was still within 30-20 with 7:19 left in the half when the Bishops took off on a 13-2 spree that included a lay-in and a 3-pointer by Cordell, and a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws from junior post Laurel Lawson (Navarre/Fairless). Quigney's 3-pointer capped that run and gave Ohio Wesleyan a 43-22 lead with just over 4 minutes to play in the half.

The Bishops opened the second half with 20 straight points, with Gordon converting a 3-point play just 6 seconds into the action, and later adding a lay-in and a 3-pointer during the run. Graf added a pair of free throws and a lay-in, and senior wing Lindsey Macklin (Columbus/Bexley) had a pair of lay-ins, and Quigney finished off the Bishop spree with a pair of free throws that made it 69-30 with 13:59 left in regulation time.

Dellas ended the Hiram drought with a free throw at the 13:30 mark, then recorded the Terriers' first basket of the half when she sank a lay-in with 11:08 to go, but by this time, the Bishops were firmly in command.

Gordon led the Bishops with 15 points, going 6-for-9 from the field. Cordell finished with 14 points and led the Bishops with 5 assists, Quigney also scored 14 points, Lawson added 13 points, and Graf and freshman wing Chelsie Spiegel (Upper Sandusky/Riverdale) contributed 10 points. Lester led the Bishops with 8 rebounds.

Stephanie Zunic led Hiram with 11 points. Karris Kandle had a team-high 5 rebounds.

Box Score