Box Score
Ohio Wesleyan 81, Allegheny 73

Junior post LaNiece McRae (Youngstown/Chaney) scored 11 of her team-high 19 points during the second half and junior guard Sarah McQuade (Dublin/Coffman), senior wing Julia Grimsley (Alliance), and sophomore post Emily Julius (Avon) each hit a pair of free throws down the stretch as Ohio Wesleyan defeated Allegheny in North Coast Athletic Conference play on Saturday at Branch Rickey Arena.

The Bishops raced to a 12-0 lead, getting a pair of buckets by Julius and a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Hanna Fedorka (North Canton/Massillon Jackson) along the way, and Ohio Wesleyan would lead by as many as 17 points, the last time at 35-18 with 6:39 left in the first half.

Allegheny got back into the game with back-to-back 3-pointers from Makenzie Zidek, and the Gators closed out the first half with a 10-0 run that included 3-pointers by Kendall Hoffman and Jessica Mrdjenovich to pull within 39-36 at the intermission.

Zidek knocked down another 3-pointer early in the second half to give Allegheny its first lead of the contest, and Meaghan Wilby followed with a lay-in for a 45-41 Gator lead with 16:47 remaining in regulation time.

McRae split a pair of free throws at the 15:49 mark to bring the Bishops within 3 and start a stretch of more than 8 minutes in which neither team led by more than 3 points.

Ohio Wesleyan trailed, 60-59, when the Bishops went on a 9-1 spurt, holding Allegheny scoreless for nearly 4 minutes.  McQuade sank a free throw to even the score at 60, then freshman post Taylor Dickson (Baltimore/Liberty Union) followed with a lay-in before freshman guard Megan Kuether (Osgood/Marion Local) buried a 3-pointer and McRae followed with a jumper.

It was still a 7-point game when Mrdjenovich sank a 3-pointer to bring Allegheny within 74-70 with 1:32 to play, but the Bishops sealed the game at the free throw line.  McQuade hit a pair of charity tosses at the 1:13 mark and Grimsley drained a pair with :59 to go to put Ohio Wesleyan up 78-70.  Julius, Kuether, and Julius hit single free throws during the final 40 seconds.

McRae finished with team bests of 19 points and 12 rebounds.  Julius scored 12 points, and McQuade had 11 points and a team-high 6 assists.

Kendall Hoffman led Allegheny with 20 points.

Box Score