Box Score
Bethany 85, Ohio Wesleyan 77

Junior guard Megan Kuether (Osgood/Marion Local) and junior post Taylor Dickson (Baltimore/Liberty Union) combined for all 10 Ohio Wesleyan points during a 10-2 run that gave the Bishops the lead, and Kuether finished with a career-high 34 points, but Bethany withstood an Ohio Wesleyan comeback to take a win in the first round of the Hope Tip-Off tournament on Friday in Holland, Mich.

Ohio Wesleyan will face Monmouth (Ill.) in the tournament consolation game at 1 p.m. on Saturday.  Bethany will take on Hope, an 83-41 winner over Monmouth on Friday, in the championship game at 3 p.m.

Bethany had taken a 12-7 lead on Kelsea Daugherty's jumper with 3:24 left in the first quarter when the Bishops went on their run, getting a free throw from Dickson and 4 straight from the line by Kuether.  A Kuether lay-in tied the game at 14, and Dickson knocked down a 3-pointer for a 17-14 Ohio Wesleyan lead in the closing moments of the quarter.

The Bishops led, 19-16, after the first period and were within 34-32 after a pair of Kuether free throws with 2:02 left in the first half, but the Bison got 3-pointers from Hayley Holenka and Maclaine Murad to go up 42-32 with :46 to play.

Ohio Wesleyan was within 62-56 when freshman guard Lisa Zeller (Orient/Grove City Christian) beat the third-quarter buzzer with a lay-in, only to see Bethany go on a 10-2 run early in the fourth quarter, with Daugherty converting a 3-point play and adding a lay-in, and Holenka capping the run with a 3-pointer that put Bethany ahead, 74-60, with 6:04 to go.

Zeller sank 3 free throws and freshman guard Rylie Pittard (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson) and Dickson sank lay-ins to bring Ohio Wesleyan within 79-73 with 2:01 to play, but the Bishops were unable to come closer than that 6-point margin.

Kuether finished with 34 points, going 11-for-17 from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers, and 10-for-11 from the line.  The 34 points ties for seventh place on the Bishop single-game list.  She also grabbed a team-high 7 rebounds.

Dickson added 22 points, and senior guard Hanna Fedorka (North Canton/Massillon Jackson) led Ohio Wesleyan with 4 assists.

Daugherty led Bethany with 22 points.

Box Score