Senior guard Lauren Denison scored 14 first-quarter points as the Ohio Wesleyan women’s basketball team built a 27-11 lead, and the Bishops went on to a 98-48 win over Sarah Lawrence at the Cruzin Classic on Monday at St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Denison buried a pair of 3-pointers as the Bishops wiped out an early 4-0 deficit, but Ohio Wesleyan trailed, 8-6, after Colleen Coughlin knocked down a jumper to break a 6-6 tie and put the Gryphons ahead with 7:10 left in the period.
The Bishops then went on a 21-3 run, with junior post Alyssa Griner sinking a pair of free throws to kick off the run befiore junior post Karlee Ross followed with a pair of free throws to put the Bishops ahead to stay.
After a lay-in by senior guard Kasey Schipfer and a pair of free throws by Griner, Denison drilled a pair of 3-pointers for a 20-11 Bishop lead. Denison and Schipfer added hoops later in the run, which ended with Ohio Wesleyan up, 27-11, with 3:06 remaining.
Ariana Spanopoulos ended the first quarter with a 3-pointer and Gladys Pierre opened the second quarter with a putback as Sarah Lawrence rallied to within 29-20. Jumpers by Ross and Denison extended the lead back into double digits, and a Denison 3-pointer, a Ross 3-point play, and a jumper by freshman post Macy Miller helped the Bishops stretch the lead.
Sophomore guard Graci Semptimphelter knocked down a 3-pointer to close out the first half and give Ohio Wesleyan a 50-30 lead at the break.
Ohio Wesleyan pulled away during the third quarter, holding the Gryphons scoreless for more than 5 minutes during a 25-2 run that included 8 points by Denison and 8 more by Schipfer.
The Bishops went on to outscore Sarah Lawrence, 31-4, during the period. Both figures tied school records, with the Bishops’ 31 points scored equaling the mark set at Defiance earlier this season and the 4 points allowed matching the performance set at Kenyon on Jan. 4 of this year.
Denison led the Bishops with a career-high 36 points, tying for fifth place on the Bishop single-game list. Denison went 10-for-19 from 3-point range, with the 10 trifectas breaking the school record of 7 set by Amanda Nanney against Earlham on Jan. 14, 2006, and the 19 attempts breaking the mark of 18 set by Tia Karras against Carnegie Mellon on Dec. 30, 2017.
The 10 3-pointers also tied the North Coast Athletic Conference single-game record, set by Kim Graf of Kenyon against Ohio Wesleyan on Jan. 20, 1996, and equaled by Graf against Bluffton on Feb. 12, 1997. Denison also had a team-best 8 steals as Ohio Wesleyan recorded 31 steals on the day, breaking the school record of 29 set against Kenyon on Dec. 4, 1991.
Schipfer recorded a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, Sophomore guard Mia Guscoff added 11 points. Senior point guard Elizabeth Homan led the Bishops with 11 assists and added 6 steals.
OWU Sports Information contributed to this report.
