Ohio Wesleyan 94, Hiram 49

Feb. 27, 2008

Senior wing Steffi Graf (Poland/Seminary), senior post Malley Adamsky (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township) and sophomore guard Lauren Gentene (Mason) hit 3-pointers during an 18-3 first-half run that moved Ohio Wesleyan's lead into double digits, and Graf and senior post Kelli Lester (Pataskala/Watkins Memorial) combined for 11 points during a 20-0 second-half run that broke open a North Coast Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinal win over Hiram on Wednesday at Branch Rickey Arena.

The second-seeded Bishops will face third-seeded Wittenberg in a semifinal contest at 6 p.m. on Friday at Kenyon. Top-seeded Kenyon takes on fourth-seeded Denison at 8 p.m. in Friday's other semifinal. The semifinal winners will play at 7 p.m. on Saturday, with the NCAC's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III tournament on the line.

Hiram had closed to within 21-18 on a free throw by Ashley Drum with 7:52 left in the first half when the Bishops took off on their first run. After a free throw by freshman post Kayla Gordon (St. Louis, Mo./Mehlville), Graf hit a 3-pointer, then Lester contributed a steal and lay-in.

Freshman wing Tyler Cordell (Columbus/St. Francis DeSales) added a lay-in before Adamsky's 3-pointer, and the Bishops finished off the run with a 3-point play by junior post Katie Hamilton (Hilliard/Darby) and Gentene's 3-pointer, which stretched the margin to 39-21 with just over 2 minutes left in the first half. Ohio Wesleyan took that 15-point lead into the locker room when senior wing Lindsey Macklin beat the first-half buzzer with a putback that made the score 44-29.

Ohio Wesleyan had opened the second half with a 20-0 run to put the game out of reach when the teams played in Saturday's regular-season finale at Branch Rickey Arena, and events unfolded in a similar fashion on Wednesday as Hiram's Stephanie Zunic buried a 3-pointer to begin the second period, but the Bishops scored the next 20 points.

Lester's 3-point play kicked off the Bishop run, and Lester added 4 more free throws before Graf and Gordon scored fast-break lay-ins. Senior guard Kathleen Cooper (Columbus/Upper Arlington) and Graf added 3-pointers, and Hamilton finished off the burst with a pair of free throws that gave Ohio Wesleyan a 64-32 lead with 13:39 remaining.

Junior post Laurel Lawson (Navarre/Fairless) led the Bishops with 13 points, going 6-for-8 from the field. Graf and Hamilton finished with 11 points apiece, while Lester and Gordon added 10 points apiece. Freshman wing Chelsie Spiegel (Upper Sandusky/Riverdale) led the Bishops with 8 rebounds and Macklin dished out a team-high 4 assists.

Zunic and Katie Grendel led Hiram with 10 points each.

Box Score