Ohio Wesleyan 71, Capital 61
Carnegie Mellon 57, Frostburg State 53

Nov. 24, 2007

Freshman guard Pam Quigney (Mentor) hit her first 5 shots, with 4 of them coming from 3-point range, as Ohio Wesleyan raced to a 21-11 lead, and the Bishops held 20th-ranked Capital scoreless for over 3 minutes down the stretch to take a win in the championship game of the Bishop Classic "Hoops for Hope" tournament on Friday at Branch Rickey Arena.

The win was Ohio Wesleyan's first over Capital since the 1981-82 season, snapping a string of 13 straight losses to the Crusaders.

In Saturday's consolation game, Carnegie Mellon built a 19-point second-half lead and held off a Frostburg State rally to take a win.

Quigney buried a pair of 3-pointers to give Ohio Wesleyan a 6-0 lead less than 2 minutes into the game, and followed with a 3-pointer and a jumper from the paint for an 11-5 Bishop lead. Junior post Laurel Lawson (Navarre/Fairless) added a jumper and a 3-pointer, senior wing Steffi Graf (Poland/Seminary) contributed a fast-break lay-in, and when Quigney hit a 3-pointer with 11:25 left in the first half, the Bishops had a 21-11 lead.

Capital rallied on the inside play of Caitlin Elsass, who tallied a lay-in and a free throw before converting a 3-point play to bring the Crusaders within 23-20, and Kristen Richardson added a 3-pointer and a free throw in the waning seconds of the half to make it a 34-33 game, but the Bishops struck back when Quigney beat the first-half buzzer with a drive and lay-in to give Ohio Wesleyan a 36-33 lead at the break.

The Crusaders again pulled to within a single point at 41-40 on Caitlin Graessle's lay-in with 16:48 left in regulation time, but Ohio Wesleyan answered with the next 8 points as freshman wing Tyler Cordell (Columbus/St. Francis DeSales) and Graf buried 3-pointers and Quigney added a pullup jumper on the break for a 49-40 Ohio Wesleyan lead with 14:19 to go.

Lawson hit back-to-back layins to stretch the Bishop lead to 61-50 with 7:01 remaining before Capital rallied. Tara Harper hit a pair of free throws before Graessle sank a lay-in and a 3-pointer to bring the Crusaders within 61-57 with 5:19 to play.

The Crusaders were still within 63-59 with 3:28 to go, but the Bishop defense held the visitors off the scoreboard until there were 17 seconds left in the game.

Meanwhile, Quigney hit a lay-in and a free throw and junior post Katie Hamilton (Hilliard/Darby) added a free throw to extend the margin to 67-59 with :50 to play. Hamilton was fouled with :34 left and missed both free throws, but senior wing Lindsey Macklin (Columbus/Bexley) battled for the rebound and was fouled. Macklin was injured on the play and unable to take the charity tosses, and junior wing Stacey Aaron (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove) came on and hit both free throws to give Ohio Wesleyan a 69-59 lead with :32 remaining.

Quigney finished with a season-high 23 points, with 16 of those coming in the first half. Lawson finished with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field. Macklin led the Bishops with 8 rebounds and Macklin, senior guard Kathleen Cooper (Columbus/Upper Arlington) and Lawson shared the Bishop lead with 3 assists apiece.

Richardson finished with a team-high 18 points for Capital, while Elsass added 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds and Tiffany Withers scored 10 points. Heather McAlpin led the Crusaders with 3 assists.

In Saturday's consolation game, Carnegie Mellon went on an early 12-2 run that included a pair of buckets by Ashley Rothwell to take a 19-8 lead, but Frostburg State rallied behind Brittany James, who stole the ball twice in a row and fed Sidra Bing for transition jumpers, then contributed a free throw and a bucket on her own, to close within 19-17 with 3:02 left in the first half.

The Tartans then scored the next 8 points, highlighted by a basket and a pair of free throws from Corey Innes, to put the lead back into double figures. Carnegie Mellon led, 29-20, at halftime, and threatened to put the game out of reach by opening the second half with an 11-2 run that included a 3-pointer by Stacie Aleski.

Carnegie Mellon led, 51-32, on Innes's 3-pointer with 7:20 left to play when the Bobcats clawed back by scoring the next 16 points. Jaime Morningstar contributed a lay-in and a pair of free throws, Elizabeth Carrington scored on a fast break, James hit a pair of free throws, Amanda LaPorta scored on another fast break, and Bing sank a jumper. Carrington followed Bing's score with a steal and lay-in to bring Frostburg with 51-48 with 1:11 to play.

Rachelle Roll hit a lay-in to stretch the Tartan lead to 53-48 with :47 left, and Carnegie Mellon hit enough free throws down the stretch to keep the Bobcats at bay.

Innes, Jeanette Schilling and Leah Feola each scored 10 points for Carnegie Mellon. Rothwell led the Tartans with 9 rebounds and Meghan Macguire had a team-high 4 assists.

Carrington led the Bobcats with 12 points and Bing finished with 10 points for Frostburg State. James had a game-high 11 rebounds.

Ohio Wesleyan's Quigney was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. She was joined on the all-tournament team by Lawson of Ohio Wesleyan, Richardson of Capital, Aleski of Carnegie Mellon, and Bing of Frostburg State.

Ohio Wesleyan-Capital Box Score
Carnegie Mellon-Frostburg State Box Score