Ohio Wesleyan 86, Notre Dame 78

Nov. 29, 2008

Sophomore guard Pam Quigney (Mentor) and sophomore post Kayla Gordon (St. Louis, Mo./Mehlville) posted career bests in scoring and Ohio Wesleyan outlasted Notre Dame during a tight second half for a win in the first round of the Olivet Thanksgiving Tournament, hosted by Olivet College on Saturday in Olivet, Mich.

Ohio Wesleyan advances to face host Olivet in the tournament championship game at 3 p.m. on Sunday. Olivet defeated Carnegie Mellon, 55-51, in Saturday's nightcap. Carnegie Mellon will face Notre Dame in the consolation game at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Quigney scored 32 points, marking the second straight game in which she posted a career best. Quigney led the Bishops with 31 points in Tuesday's game at Franklin, then a career high.

Gordon finished with a career-high 30 points, hitting 11 of 17 shots from the field.

The dual 30-point performances were the first for Ohio Wesleyan since Feb. 6, 2004, when Erica Brizendine scored 31 and Kelly Heil had 30 points against Denison.

Gordon opened the Bishop scoring by burying a 3-pointer, and added another 3-pointer and a lay-in as Ohio Wesleyan raced to an early 12-4 lead.

The Bishops stretched the lead to 16-6 on Gordon's jumper just over 5 minutes into the action, and took a 25-14 lead on a Quigney 3-pointer midway through the first half.

Ohio Wesleyan still led, 27-16, after Quigney and Notre Dame's Jamie Henry traded baskets, but the Falcons responded with a 16-4 run that included a pair of 3-pointers and a lay-in from Ashley Carney and a pair of buckets from the paint by Alex Dackin. Carney's second 3-pointer gave the Falcons a 32-31 lead with 4:16 left in the first half.

Senior post Katie Hamilton (Hilliard/Darby) sank a pair of free throws to end the Bishop drought and kick off a 10-2 spurt that gave Ohio Wesleyan the lead for good. A Gordon 3-pointer, a Hamilton lay-in and a Quigney 3-pointer followed in short order, giving the Bishops a 41-34 lead with 1:15 left in the half.

Notre Dame came back, closing the half with a Carney 3-pointer and a buzzer-beating lay-in by Amanda Brown to close within 41-39 at the break, but that was as close as the Falcons would come.

Gordon opened the second half with a 3-pointer to give the Bishops a 5-point cushion, and Ohio Wesleyan would expand the margin to 8 points on 6 different occasions while allowing Notre Dame within a basket only once during the period.

Freshman post Dany Finck (Hilliard/Darby) led the Bishops with 11 rebounds, and sophomore wing Tyler Cordell (Columbus/St. Francis DeSales) had a team-high 4 assists.

Carney led Notre Dame with 22 points and 7 assists. Yvette Hunter added 13 points and Amanda Brown and Henry scored 10 points apiece.

Box Score