Ohio Wesleyan 63, Kenyon 61

Sophomore post Tamra Londot (Utica) scored the go-ahead basket and freshman wing Mary Corbett (Columbus/Upper Arlington) had 5 points during a 7-0 run that put Ohio Wesleyan ahead to stay, and the Bishops withstood a last-minute Kenyon rally to hold on for a North Coast Athletic Conference win over the Ladies on Saturday at Branch Rickey Arena.

Kenyon had taken a 53-52 lead -- the Ladies' first lead of the second half -- on a 3-point play by Morgan Korinek with 6:52 left in regulation time.

On the Bishops' ensuing possession, Londot answered with a jumper from the lane that gave the Bishops a 54-53 lead, and Corbett followed with a 3-pointer and added a jumper for a 59-53 Bishop lead with 4:05 remaining.

The Bishops led, 61-55, after a lay-in by freshman post LaNiece McRae (Youngstown/Chaney) with 2:50 left, and it looked like Ohio Wesleyan was in good shape when Londot cleared the rebound of a missed Kenyon 3-pointer with less than 2 minutes to play.

The Ladies, however, forced back-to-back turnovers off the press, with Maureen Hirt and Maggie Boelter scoring lay-ins to bring the visitors within 61-59 with 1:27 to go.

Freshman guard Sarah McQuade (Dublin/Coffman) hit a pair of free throws with :57 left, but Kenyon came back with a Korinek bucket at the :39 mark.

Ohio Wesleyan was called for a 30-second violation on its next possession, giving Kenyon the ball back with :09.7 to play, but as Hirt brought the ball upcourt, she was called for an offensive foul just after passing the midcourt stripe, turning the ball over to the Bishops with :06 left.

The Ladies fouled McQuade on the inbounds pass, with a single second ticking off the clock, and the strategy worked when McQuade missed the front end of the one-and-one.  Korinek grabbed the rebound and brought the ball upcourt, but her 3-pointer from the right side for the win was off the mark.

Ohio Wesleyan had played some of its best basketball of the season early on, hitting the boards hard while building a 12-point lead.  Sophomore wing Julia Grimsley (Alliance) hit a pair of 3-pointers, while Corbett and junior post Helen Scheblo (Canal Winchester/St. Francis DeSales) combined for 11 first-half rebounds.  Grimsley's second trifecta gave the Bishops a 21-9 lead, and Ohio Wesleyan would take a 34-23 lead into the locker room.

Grimsley and Corbett hit 3-pointers early in the second half, and Corbett's jumper at the 14:50 mark gave the Bishops a 44-31 lead.

Kenyon got back into the game with 9 straight points, collecting a Korinek 3-point play and a pair of 3-pointers by Boelter, and the Ladies finished the comeback when another Boelter 3-pointer tied the game at 46 with 9:40 to play.

Corbett led the Bishops with 15 points, while Grimsley followed with 13 points and McRae had 12 points and a team-high 9 boards.

Kayla Ernst led Kenyon with 17 points.

Box Score