Ohio Wesleyan 64, Wittenberg 53

Feb. 11, 2009

Sophomore wing Tyler Cordell (Columbus/St. Francis DeSales) scored 6 points during a 14-2 first-half run that gave Ohio Wesleyan the lead and sophomore guard Pam Quigney (Mentor) provided some key scoring down the stretch as the Bishops withstood a furious Wittenberg rally to hold on for a North Coast Athletic Conference win over the Tigers on Wednesday at Branch Rickey Arena.

Wittenberg had taken a 4-2 lead on a jumper by Rachel Dixon with 16:30 left in the first half.

Sophomore post Kayla Gordon (St. Louis, Mo./Mehlville) answered with a 3-pointer for Ohio Wesleyan, putting the Bishops ahead to stay and kicking off the 14-2 run. Cordell followed with a lay-in, and after a 3-pointer by senior post Katie Hamilton (Hilliard/Darby), Cordell followed with a pair of buckets from the paint before junior wing Rachel Seibel (Johnstown/Johnstown-Monroe) capped the Bishop spree with a lay-in that made it 16-6 with 11:14 left in the first half.

Quigney's fast-break jumper and a Hamilton 3-point play helped Ohio Wesleyan stretch the margin to 26-10 with 5:49 left in the period, and the Bishops would take a 16-point lead into the locker room thanks in part to a putback bucket by sophomore wing Hannah Coughlin (Dublin/Scioto) just before the buzzer.

Quigney and Hamilton hit jumpers early in the second half to push the Ohio Wesleyan lead to 46-25, and the Bishops still led, 49-29, when freshman wing Lea Mackenbach (St. Marys/Memorial) hit a 3-pointer with the shot clock running out with 13:09 remaining.

Wittenberg scored the next 8 points, getting a free throw from Sarah Watson, a 3-point play from Carrie Dyer, and lay-ins from Dixon and Dyer to close to within 49-37.

Hamilton ended that Tiger run by splitting a pair of free throws, and Gordon followed with a bucket for the Bishops, but Wittenberg crept closer by scoring the next 9 points, with Watson contributing a lay-in, Katherine Hueter hitting a pair of free throws and a fast-break lay-in, Stephanie Boardman adding a free throw, and Allie Leopard hitting a jumper from the lane to bring Wittenberg within 52-46 with 4:47 to play.

Once again, it was Hamilton at the line for the Bishops to end the Tiger run, and her pair of free throws gave Ohio Wesleyan a 54-46 lead with 4:21 left, but Boardman and Dixon hit lay-ins to bring the Tigers within 54-50 with 1:51 to go.

Cordell buried a pair of free throws at the 1:13 mark to make it a 6-point game, and the Bishops were able to add to their lead at the line, with Quigney sinking a pair of free throws with :55 left and another pair with :38 remaining to give Ohio Wesleyan a 60-50 advantage.

Victoria Leali's 3-pointer brought Wittenberg within 60-53, but Gordon and Quigney each sank a pair of free throws to seal the outcome.

Quigney led the Bishops with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Hamilton also had 15 points to share the Bishop lead, while Gordon added 12 points and Cordell scored 10 points.

Dyer and Boardman paced Wittenberg with 13 points apiece. Hueter grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.

Box Score