Box Score
Ohio Wesleyan 66, Allegheny 65

Freshman guard Devin Hefner (Parkersburg, W. Va./South) sank a pair of free throws with :48 left to give Ohio Wesleyan the lead, and the Bishop defense recorded a pair of stops during the final seconds to seal a North Coast Athletic Conference win over Allegheny on Friday in Meadville, Pa.

After Hefner sank both free throws with :48 remaining, Allegheny's Delaney Arbore misfired on a jumper with :28 left and Gator teammate Julianna Skowron tracked down the rebound, but Mari Casale turned the ball over with :09 to play.

Casale stole the ball back from sophomore guard Tia Karras (Bellbrook/Miami Valley) with :07 remaining to give the Gators a final chance, but Brooke Smith was called for an offensive foul on a drive to the bucket with a fraction of a second to play, and the Bishops were able to run out the clock.

Ohio Wesleyan broke a 9-9 tie with 8 straight points capped by a basket and a pair of free throws by freshman guard Leah Maniaci (Marion/Pleasant), but the Gators answered with a 9-0 run to take an 18-17 lead after the first period.  In the second quarter, it was the Bishops with a charge late in the period, getting 6 straight points from freshman post Cierra Joiner (Centerburg) and a steal-and-lay-in by senior guard Erin Delaney (Toledo/Notre Dame Academy) to take a 37-32 lead at the break.

Tia Karras tallied a pair of hoops during a 6-0 burst that stretched the Bishop lead to 46-36 early in the third quarter, and Ohio Wesleyan would lead by as many as 13 points, that coming on a Delaney 3-pointer that made it 55-42 with 2:37 left in the third period.

Trailing, 59-47, with just over a minute left in the third quarter, the Gators held the Bishops without a basket for more than 7 minutes while getting 4 points apiece from Arbore and Zoe Soilis during a 12-1 run that pared the margin to 60-59 with exactly 4 minutes to play in regulation time.

Hefner came through with a jumper from the lane to end the Bishop drought, but Arbore drove for a pair of lay-ins that gave the Gators a 63-62 edge.  Delaney and Kaylah Pinkney traded lay-ins for a 65-64 Allegheny advantage with 1:40 remaining, setting up the final minute of play.

Karras led the Bishops with 17 points.  Junior guard Claire Sterling (West Jefferson) racked up a double-double with 13 points and 10 boards, and Delaney and Hefner finished with 12 points apiece.

Skowron led Allegheny with 20 points.

Box Score