School records tumbled as the Ohio Wesleyan women’s basketball team closed out the regular season with an 81-49 North Coast Athletic Conference win over Hiram on Saturday at Branch Rickey Arena.
The win clinched third place in the NCAC standings for the Bishops. Ohio Wesleyan will be the No. 3 seed in the upcoming NCAC tournament and will host sixth-seeded Kenyon in a quarterfinal matchup today at 5:30 p.m. at Branch Rickey Arena.
Junior guard Kasey Schipfer and sophomore post Alyssa Griner hit baskets that gave Ohio Wesleyan a 4-0 lead in the first minute of the contest, and junior guard Lauren Denison followed with a couple of 3-pointers before another Schipfer lay-in made it 14-0. Denison and Schipfer would score 6 points apiece during the period, which ended with the Bishops holding a 25-0 lead. The effort broke the school record for fewest points allowed in a first quarter, set on March 6, 2021, when Wooster scored 1 point in the opening stanza.
Griner opened the second-quarter scoring with a lay-in before Jo Janda buried a 3-pointer to put the Terriers on the scoreboard. Ohio Wesleyan scored the next 8 points of the game, with Griner contributing a bucket and a pair of free throws, and the Bishops would go on to lead by a 46-15 count at the half.
Griner led the Bishops with 16 points. Schipfer finished with 13 points and led Ohio Wesleyan with 8 rebounds, and Denison finished with 10 points.
Junior guard Elizabeth Homan led Ohio Wesleyan with a career-high 13 assists, the second-highest total on the Bishop single-game list. The 13 assists raised her season total to 146 to break the Ohio Wesleyan season record of 138 set by Tyler Cordell during the 2009-10 season.
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Sophomore guard Henry Hinkle scored to kick off a 13-0 run that put Ohio Wesleyan ahead to stay, and senior wing Jack Clement and senior post Grant Spicer combined for 9 points during that run to help the Bishops to an 88-74 North Coast Athletic Conference win over Hiram on Saturday at Branch Rickey Arena.
The Ohio Wesleyan win, combined with Wabash’s 75-74 loss at Wooster, leaves the Bishops and Little Giants tied for second place in the conference standings. Wabash won a tiebreaker and will be the No. 2 seed in this week’s NCAC tournament, while the Bishops will be the No. 3 seed and will host sixth-seeded DePauw in a quarterfinal matchup tonight at 7:45 p.m. at Branch Rickey Arena.
Hiram had tied the game with a 3-pointer by Kevin Beans Jr. that completed a 10-0 Terrier run and knotted the score at 68 with 6:12 left in regulation time.
Hinkle scored on a putback to kick off the 13-0 Bishop run, and Clement followed with a 3-point play before Spicer sank 2 free throws and a jumper from the lane. After a jumper by senior guard Curtis White, Clement buried a pair of free throws to give Ohio Wesleyan an 81-68 lead with 1:53 remaining. After a pair of Terrier fouls, the Bishops had the ball in the frontcourt with one minute remaining, and Spicer sank 4 free throws with ease. Clement paired the free throws with a layup to ensure the Bishop win.
Ohio Wesleyan built an early 16-9 lead on a Clement lay-in, but Hiram scored the next 8 points, going up, 17-16, on a Beans 3-pointer.
A dunk from Spicer late in the half was greeted with a big roar from the crowd and another push from the Bishops. Spicer sank two free throws with ease in the final minute of the first, which paired with a jumper by Hinkle to tie the score at 39 going into the half.
The Terriers stayed close to the Bishops, only trailing by a few points until a series of free throws by Clement helped the Bishops pull away. The Bishops used an 11-0 run to open up a 66-56 lead during the final 10 minutes of regulation.
Clement led the Bishops with 30 points and shared the team lead with 5 assists. Spicer finished with 22 points and a team-best 9 boards, Hinkle scored 16 points and shared the team lead with 5 assists, and junior wing Tony Carter added 11 points.
