Allegheny 60, Ohio Wesleyan 45

Freshman wing Caroline Welker (Delaware/Hayes) scored to bring Ohio Wesleyan within a single point, but Allegheny responded with an 8-0 run and pulled away for a win in the Bishops' North Coast Athletic Conference opener on Saturday at Branch Rickey Arena.

Welker's steal and lay-in brought the Bishops within 37-36 with 12:53 left in regulation time.

The Gators got a free throw from Heidi Goeller and 2 charity tosses by Daryl Ford, followed by a Goeller lay-in and a 3-pointer from Erica Restich, to extend the lead to 45-36 with 8:51 to play.

Ohio Wesleyan ended that run with a lay-in by freshman guard Sarah McQuade (Dublin/Coffman), but the Bishops would get just one more bucket during the next 6 minutes of action, that coming on Welker's hoop with 5:26 to play.

Allegheny would pull away behind the scoring of Ford, who hit back-to-back buckets to push the lead into double digits, and capped the day's scoring with a 3-point play that pushed the final margin to 15 points.

Freshman post LaNiece McRae (Youngstown/Chaney) led the Bishops with 12 points and shared the team lead with 7 rebounds, and Welker also shared the team lead with 7 boards.

Restich and Ford recorded double-doubles for Allegheny, with Restich finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds and Ford collecting 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Box Score