Ohio Northern 72, Ohio Wesleyan 55

Dec. 12, 2007

Senior wing Lindsey Macklin (Columbus/Bexley) hit a lay-in to give Ohio Wesleyan a 29-28 lead late in the first half, but Ohio Northern scored the next 6 points to take the lead for good and went on to defeat the Bishops in non-conference action on Wednesday in Ada.

The Bishops had raced to an early 6-0 lead on a 3-pointer by junior post Laurel Lawson (Navarre/Fairless) and a free throw and a basket from senior wing Steffi Graf (Poland/Seminary).

The Polar Bears answered with an 11-1 run, with Alisha Rinehart contributing a 3-pointer and 4 free throws, to take an 11-7 lead with 14:36 left in the first half.

Freshman post Kayla Gordon (St. Louis, Mo./Mehlville) and senior post Kelli Lester (Pataskala/Watkins Memorial) converted 3-point plays and Gordon buried 2 more free throws as the Bishops re-took the lead at 15-14, but Ohio Northern fought back with a 9-2 run featuring a Jenny Markle 3-pointer to grab their biggest lead of the half at 23-17 with 8:21 to go.

Graf wiped out that deficit with a pair of 3-pointers, and after another Markle 3-pointer, Macklin contributed a lay-in, a pair of free throws and another lay-in that gave Ohio Wesleyan a 29-28 lead with 3:24 left in the period.

Brittany Schroeder followed with a pair of free throws for Ohio Northern, and the Polar Bears added lay-ins by Erin Brand and Rinehart for a 34-29 lead with 1:46 left in the half.

Macklin rallied the Bishops with a pair of lay-ins to make it a 34-33 game, but Rinehart hit a pair of free throws with :02 left in the half to give Ohio Northern a 36-33 halftime lead.

The Polar Bears opened the second half with a Leah Zimmerman 3-pointer, stretching the margin to 39-33.

Ohio Wesleyan closed to within 4 points on numerous occasions, the last on Graf's 3-pointer that brought the Bishops within 49-45 with 11:30 to play, but the Polar Bears had an answer for every Bishop rally and pulled away in the closing minutes.

Graf led the Bishops with 16 points, while Macklin finished with 14 points and a team-high 5 rebounds. Senior guard Kathleen Cooper (Columbus/Upper Arlington) led Ohio Wesleyan with 6 assists.

Markle led Ohio Northern with 18 points, going 6-for-6 from beyond the arc. Brand scored 17 points and shared the Polar Bear lead with 5 rebounds, Rinehart finished with 13 points and shared the team lead with 5 rebounds, and Zimmerman added 11 points and a team-high 5 assists.

Box Score