Box Score
Visiting Hope College grabbed a late second half lead tonight against the Mount, and held on to post a 61-57 win in the first round of the MSJ Tip-Off Tournament. The Lions, 0-2 overall, will take on Hope College on Nov. 19 in the Consolation game of the Tournament. Hope was a 62-53 loser to Capital University in the other first round game.
The Lions led by a 30-27 advantage at the half, thanks to 59 percent from the field, and holding the Bishops to 41 percent field goal shooting. Elizabeth Paff (Cincinnati, OH/Oak Hills) led the way for the Mount in the opening half of play, firing in eight points on four-of-four shooting. Shelbi Benzinger (Covington, KY/Scott) hit a three-point shot with 12:19 to play in the second half, giving the Lions a 43-38 lead and Alex Donald (Litchfield, ME/Oak Hill) fired in a long range field goal at the 9:31 mark to give the Mount their biggest lead of the second half, 49-42. OWU would whittle down the Mount lead to 52-51 and the game would be tied for a sixth time at 57-all with 21 seconds to play.
Ohio Wesleyan's Sarah McQuade hit the second of two free throw attempts with 18 seconds left to give her team a 58-57 lead while teammate Mary Corbett did the same with 15 seconds left, giving OWU a 59-57 advantage. McQuade finished the scoring, tossing in two more free throws down the stretch as the Mount did not score in the game after the 1:05 mark.
Both teams shot under 37 percent from the field in the second half, while OWU was 13-of-28 from the line in the game and the Mount was 12-of-20 from the charity stripe. The Lions committed 16 second half turnovers.
Courtney Cole (Vevay, IN/Switzerland County) led the Mount with 14 points and four assists while Paff chipped in 10 points . Rachel Blevins (Middletown, OH/Madison) had eight points and eight rebounds while Brooke Mosler (Maysville, KY/St. Patrick's) added eight rebounds.
