Notre Dame (Ohio) 75, Ohio Wesleyan 64
Senior guard Pam Quigney (Mentor) converted a 3-point play to give Ohio Wesleyan its biggest lead of the game, but Notre Dame responded with a 15-2 run to take the lead, then added a 13-0 run later in the second half on the way to a non-conference win over the Bishops in their season opener on Tuesday at Branch Rickey Arena.
Senior guard Tyler Cordell (Columbus/St. Francis DeSales) finished the first half with a fast-break lay-in that gave the Bishops a 37-31 lead at the break, and after the Falcons' Yvette Hunter opened the second-half scoring with a bucket, Quigney's 3-point play gave Ohio Wesleyan a 40-33 lead with 17:20 left in regulation time.
Lauren Macer hit a 3-pointer on Notre Dame's next possession, and after the Falcons collected a pair of Hunter baskets sandwiched around a Macer free throw, the visitors had taken a 41-40 lead at the 14:51 mark. Lay-ins by Taryn Wicks and Alex Dackin finished off the Notre Dame run and made it a 48-42 game with 12:05 to play.
Ohio Wesleyan came back to even the score at 48 with a fast-break lay-in by senior post Kayla Gordon (St. Louis, Mo./Mehlville) and a lay-in by freshman post Tamra Londot (Utica) with 8:50 remaining, but the Falcons answered with an 11-0 run that included a Wicks lay-in, 4 straight free throws and a lay-in by Tracy Payne, a 3-point play from Wicks, and a pair of free throws by Kealy McNally that extended the Falcons' lead to 61-48 with 6:05 to play.
Gordon hit a pair of free throws and a lay-in as Ohio Wesleyan pared the deficit to 68-61 with 1:26 left, but Notre Dame put the game away at the free throw line, with McNally draining a pair of free throws and Payne going 3-for-4 from the stripe during the final minute.
Quigney led the Bishops with 20 points, while Cordell finished with 16 points and Gordon added 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Quigney and Cordell shared the team lead with 3 assists apiece.
McNally paced the Falcons with 21 points, with Payne adding 18 points and 5 assists, and Macer finishing with 15 points. Wicks grabbed a team-high 8 boards and shared the Notre Dame lead with 5 assists.
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