Ohio Wesleyan 72, Allegheny 56

Jan. 10, 2009

Senior post Katie Hamilton (Hilliard/Darby) scored 5 points during a 7-0 game-opening run and sophomore post Kayla Gordon (St. Louis, Mo./Mehlville) had 5 points during an 11-2 second-half run that extended the Ohio Wesleyan lead into double digits as the Bishops defeated Allegheny in North Coast Athletic Conference action on Saturday at Branch Rickey Arena.

Junior wing Rachel Seibel (Johnstown/Johnstown-Monroe) hit a lay-in on Ohio Wesleyan's first possession of the game, and after a 3-pointer by Hamilton, the Bishops added a Hamilton lay-in for a 7-0 lead with 15:26 left in the first half.

The Bishop defense held Allegheny off the scoreboard for more than 5 minutes, including a stretch of nearly 4 minutes in which Ohio Wesleyan allowed the Gators only one shot.

Shannon Culbreath's lay-in with 14:55 remaining put Allegheny on the scoreboard, and when Emilie Simone followed with a lay-in, the Gators were within 7-4 with 14:22 to go.

Hamilton hit a free throw and 2 lay-ins to kick off another Ohio Wesleyan run, which gave the Bishops a 15-4 lead when freshman guard Elyse Wenger (Loveland) buried a 3-pointer with 11:13 to play in the half.

Ohio Wesleyan still led, 17-6, when the Gators started to shake off their 3-for-20 start from the field. Lauren Donahoe found Simone for a lay-in, then stole the ball and fed Laura Magnelli for a fast break lay-in that sliced the deficit to 17-10, and later in the half, Donahoe converted a 3-point play that brought Allegheny with 23-19 with 2:13 left in the period.

Hamilton again answered for the Bishops, hitting 4 straight free throws before a lay-in by sophomore guard Pam Quigney (Mentor) extended the lead back to 10 points at 31-21.

Allegheny rallied with a 3-pointer by Britni Mohney in the closing seconds of the half, then opened the second half with a jumper by Jill Gregory.

Once again, it was Hamilton who answered for the Bishops, scoring on a putback before a Quigney lay-in, a 3-pointer by Gordon and buckets from the lane by Quigney and Gordon stretched the Ohio Wesleyan lead to 42-28 with 14:39 to play. Ohio Wesleyan would lead by as many as 21 points, that on Quigney's jumper that made it 57-36 with 9:22 remaining.

The Gators rallied behind 9 straight points from Jill Gregory and closed to within 65-54 on Donahoe's 3-pointer with 2:46 to play, but that was as close as Allegheny would get.

Hamilton led the Bishops with a career-high 19 points. Quigney scored 16 points, Gordon finished with 15 points, and sophomore wing Tyler Cordell (Columbus/St. Francis DeSales) posted a double-double, adding 10 points and 11 rebounds along with a team-high 6 assists.

Gregory led the Gators with 17 points, while Donahoe finished with 10 points. Culbreath grabbed a team-leading 11 rebounds.

Box Score