Illinois Wesleyan 80, Ohio Wesleyan 51

March 6, 2009

Sophomore post Kayla Gordon (St. Louis, Mo./Mehlville) and junior wing Rachel Seibel (Johnstown/Johnstown-Monroe) hit 3-pointers that gave Ohio Wesleyan an early 6-5 lead, but top-ranked Illinois Wesleyan answered with a 9-2 run and went on to defeat the Bishops in a first-round matchup of the NCAA Division III tournament on Friday in Bloomington, Ill.

Illinois Wesleyan advances to the second round to face Wisconsin-Eau Claire, a winner over DePauw in Friday's opening game.

The Titans jumped to a 5-0 lead on a putback by Christina Solari and a 3-pointer by Mallory Heydorn less than a minute into the game.

Seibel buried a 3-pointer to put the Bishops on the scoreboard, and after a Titan turnover, Gordon knocked down a long 3-pointer for a 6-5 Bishop lead.

Solari then scored on 3 straight possessions for Illinois Wesleyan, and after a basket by senior post Katie Hamilton (Hilliard/Darby), Heydorn connected on another 3-pointer to give the hosts a 14-8 lead with 16:14 left in the first half.

Hamilton answered with a 3-pointer to make it a 14-11 game, and the Bishops were still within 19-14 on Gordon's fast-break lay-in midway through the half.

Illinois Wesleyan scored the next 7 points, collecting a Claire Sheehan basket from the lane, another Heydorn 3-pointer, and a Nikki Preston lay-in to push the lead into double digits at 26-14.

The Bishops rallied behind 3-pointers from sophomore wing Tyler Cordell (Columbus/St. Francis DeSales) and Gordon, along with a pair of Hamilton free throws, to cut the gap to 31-25 with 3:40 left in the period.

Ohio Wesleyan was still within 35-28 on Cordell's free throw with 1:26 left, but Preston sank a lay-in on the other end, and on the Bishops' ensuing possession, Cordell drove the lane but was called first for traveling and then for a technical foul. Heydorn sank both free throws to give the Titans a 39-28 lead at the intermission.

Colleen Caplice hit 2 lay-ins and Solari added another as Illinois Wesleyan scored the first 6 points of the second half, and the Titans would put the game away, shooting 62 percent from the field (18 of 29) during the second half while holding Ohio Wesleyan to 25 percent shooting (9 of 35) during the period.

Hamilton led the Bishops with 15 points, while Gordon finished with 13 points and Cordell added 10 points and posted team highs of 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Cordell's 4 assists moved her season total to 136, tying the school record set by Amy Evans during the 1991-92 season.

Heydorn led all players with 17 points, while Solari added 13 points and 5 assists, Sheehan scored 12 points, and Sarah Cotner scored 11 for Illinois Wesleyan.

Box Score