Junior post Emily Julius scored a career-high 24 points -- going 6-for-6 from the field during the second half -- to lead fifth-seeded Ohio Wesleyan to a 75-58 upset of fourth-seeded Oberlin in a North Coast Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinal contest on Tuesday in Oberlin.
Ohio Wesleyan advances to face top-seeded DePauw in the NCAC tournament semifinals at 8 p.m. on Friday in Greencastle, Ind. The other semifinal will match second-seeded Wittenberg against third-seeded Denison at 6 p.m. The semifinal winners will square off in the tournament championship game at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
The Bishops got a pair of 3-pointers from sophomore post Taylor Dickson and another by Julius to comprise a 9-2 run that broke a 2-2 tie. Another Julius 3-pointer and a lay-in by Dickson stretched the Bishop lead to 16-6 with 14:23 left in the first half.
Oberlin chipped away at the deficit, closing to within 20-14 on Christina Marquette's lay-in with 10:45 left, then getting 3-pointers from Lindsey Bernhard and Marquette, as well as a traditional 3-point play from Katie Lucaites, to fuel a 9-2 run that brought the Yeowomen within 31-29 with 2:52 to play in the period.
Ohio Wesleyan ended that run with baskets by Dickson and Julius and took a 37-31 lead at the intermission.
Bernhardt buried a pair of 3-pointers early in the second half as the Yeowomen came back to tie the game at 39, but senior post LaNiece McRae hit a pair of free throws and followed with a steal and lay-in to put the Bishops ahead to stay.
Julius hit a jumper, senior guard Sarah McQuade followed with a pair of lay-ins, and McRae followed with a lay-in during an 8-0 burst that stretched the Bishop lead to 59-47 midway through the half, and while Oberlin would cut the deficit to 10 points on a pair of occasions, the Yeowomen would come no closer.
Julius led the Bishops with 24 points and 8 rebounds. McQuade finished with 16 points and a team-best 9 assists, McRae finished with 12 points, and Dickson added 10 points.
Marquette led Oberlin with 22 points.