Ohio Wesleyan 87, Oberlin 67

Feb. 18, 2009

Sophomore post Kayla Gordon (St. Louis, Mo./Mehlville) buried a pair of 3-pointers during a 10-2 run that pushed Ohio Wesleyan's lead into double digits, freshman wing Lea Mackenbach (St. Marys/Memorial) hit a 3-pointer to kick off a 9-0 first-half run, and senior post Katie Hamilton (Hilliard/Darby) scored 5 points during a 9-0 second-half spree that helped the Bishops to a North Coast Athletic Conference win over Oberlin on Wednesday at Branch Rickey Arena.

The Yeowomen opened the scoring with a pair of fast-break buckets by Syrea Thomas.

Ohio Wesleyan established the evening's theme by striking back with hoops by Gordon and sophomore guard Pam Quigney (Mentor), then a pair of Hamilton free throws gave the Bishops a 6-4 lead. Oberlin tied the game at 6-6 on Emily Chu Finkel's putback bucket.

Ohio Wesleyan take the lead for good on Quigney's 3-pointer with 15:38 left in the first half.

The Yeowomen were still within 19-16 on another Chu Finkel putback with 10:48 remaining when the Bishops took off on their first run.

Hamilton hit a pair of free throws before Gordon knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers, and a Hamilton lay-in pushed the margin to 29-18 with 7:09 left.

Oberlin answered with consecutive lay-ins by Kira Rivera, closing to within 29-22, but Mackenbach drained a 3-pointer on Ohio Wesleyan's next possession, followed in short order by 3-pointers from Cordell and Quigney to give the Bishops a 38-22 lead with 3:55 to play in the period.

Ohio Wesleyan led, 43-30 at halftime, but the Yeowomen closed to within 43-32 on Thomas's fast-break lay-in to open the second half.

Once again, Ohio Wesleyan had an answer, with Hamilton contributing a jumper and a free throw, sophomore wing Tyler Cordell (Columbus/St. Francis DeSales) sinking pair of free throws, and Quigney and Hamilton adding lay-ins to give the Bishops a 52-32 lead with 17:24 left in regulation time.

Oberlin countered with the next 7 points with the help of baskets by Fran Holoman, Thomas and Rivera, but the Yeowomen would not come closer than 12 points during the remainder of the contest.

Hamilton led the Bishops with 21 points, going 13-for-14 from the line. Her 13 free throws was a single toss short of the school record of 14 accomplished twice by Jessica Viertlboeck. Cordell finished with 18 points and led Ohio Wesleyan with 9 assists, Gordon scored 17 points and grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds, Mackenbach added 12 points and Quigney had 10 points.

Thomas led Oberlin with 17 points, while Katie Thompson scored 12 points and Rivera added 11 points for the Yeowomen.

Box Score