Box Score
Capital 72, Ohio Wesleyan 65

Junior guard Sarah McQuade (Dublin/Coffman) hit a lay-in and 4 free throws that brought Ohio Wesleyan within 3 points, but Capital withstood the rally and held on for a non-conference win over the Bishops on Tuesday at Branch Rickey Arena.

Ohio Wesleyan raced to an early 8-2 lead behind a pair of hoops from senior post Tamra Londot (Utica), a bucket from senior wing Julia Grimsley (Alliance), and a pair of free throws by sophomore post Emily Julius (Avon).

Capital countered with an 8-0 burst of its own, and the Crusaders built a 16-11 lead on the second of consecutive lay-ins by Monica Heckman with 9:01 left in the first half.

Junior wing Caroline Welker (Delaware/Hayes) scored 7 points during the final 63 seconds of the half, hitting a 3-pointer, a lay-in, and a pair of free throws, to give the Bishops a 31-27 lead at the break, and McQuade opened the second half with a jumper for a 33-27 lead, matching Ohio Wesleyan's biggest lead of the game.

Ohio Wesleyan still led, 57-53, on a Julius lay-in with 5:36 to play, but Capital took the lead for good with an 8-0 run that included a pair of Geroski free throws, a 3-point play by Nina Napolitano, a pair of Shelby Sheets free throws, and a free throw by Jamie Caton.

McQuade ended that Capital run with a pair of free throws that brought the Bishops within 61-59 with 2:20 to go, but Caton converted a 3-point play on Capital's next possession to stretch the lead back to 5 points.

McQuade answered with a pair of free throws, and after Caton and McQuade traded lay-ins, the Bishops were down, 66-63 with 1:44 to play.

Ohio Wesleyan induced Caton to miss a lay-in on the Crusaders' next trip down the court, but Napolitano got the rebound and found Sheets for the putback to restore Capital's 5-point lead.  McQuade misfired on a pair of free throws with :58 left, and Napolitano sank a pair of free throws with :43 to go, followed by a pair of Sheets free throws with :30 remaining that gave the visitors a 72-63 lead.

Welker led the Bishops with 22 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, good for her first career double-double.  McQuade finished with 11 points and a team-high 4 assists, and Londot and freshman guard Megan Kuether (Osgood/Marion Local) had 10 points apiece.

Caton led Capital with 18 points, while Heckman finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds.

Box Score