Senior guard Kasey Schipfer scored 7 consecutive points as the Ohio Wesleyan women’s basketball team opened up a double-digit lead, and senior point guard Elizabeth Homan hit a 3-pointer during a late 9-0 run that helped the Bishops seal a 63-54 North Coast Athletic Conference win over Oberlin on Saturday in Oberlin.
Oberlin’s Camille Zinaich opened the second-quarter scoring with a bucket that brought the Yeowomen within 21-18, but junior post Alyssa Griner responded with a basket before Schipfer scored the next 7 Ohio Wesleyan points, converting a 3-point play for a 30-20 Bishop lead at the 6:15 mark of the period.
Schipfer’s fast-break lay-in closed out the half with Ohio Wesleyan holding a 38-26 lead, and the Bishop lead would remain in double figures until the final second of the third period, when Zinaich sank a pair of free throws to make it 52-44. A Gina Lombard 3-pointer highlighted an 8-0 Oberlin run, which ended with an Alyson Jefferson jumper that brought the Yeowomen within 54-52 with 5:03 remaining.
The Bishop defense kept Oberlin off the scoreboard for the next 5 minutes, and the Bishops pulled away with baskets by junior post Karlee Ross and senior guard Lauren Denison, Homan’s 3-pointer, and a lay-in from freshman post Macy Miller that extended the margin to 63-52 with 1:56 to go.
Oberlin’s Ellie Pollock-Ballard scored during the final seconds for the 63-54 final.
Schipfer and Griner shared the Bishop lead with 21 points apiece, with Griner’s 21 points matching the career best set against Oberlin on Feb. 1, 2023, and Miller added 10 points. Schipfer snared a career-best 18 rebounds and Homan collected 11 assists.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Junior guard Henry Hinkle sank a pair of free throws to tie the game at 71, but Denison retook the lead and withstood a potential game-winning shot to escape with a 75-74 North Coast Athletic Conference win on Saturday at Branch Rickey Arena.
Ohio Wesleyan had taken a 65-57 lead on a 3-pointer by sophomore wing Isaac Ward with 5:51 left in regulation time, but the Big Red responded with a 14-1 run that included a lay-in and a 3-pointer from Cameron Smith and concluded with an Aidan King lay-in that gave the visitors a 71-66 lead with 2:28 to go.
The Bishops bounced back with a Ward free throw and a bucket and a pair of free throws by Hinkle to knot the score at 71 with 1:22 remaining.
Denison’s Gates Flynn sank a pair of free throws to give the Big Red a 73-71 lead, and it appeared that the Bishops had gotten the stop they needed when Smith misfired on a 3-pointer with :19 to play, but Big Red teammate Emmett Burnside chased down the offensive rebound and was fouled with :15 left. Burnside sank both ends of the one-and-one for a 75-71 Denison lead.
Ward buried a 3-pointer with :09 remaining, and the Bishops fouled Denison’s Aidan King with :05.4 to go. King missed the front end of the one-and-one and senior post Tony Carter snared the rebound, but Carter’s outlet pass was knocked out of bounds by a Denison defender, using up a couple of key seconds.
The Bishops inbounded with :03.3 left, with Hinkle dodging a Denison defender and getting a look at a game-winning 3-pointer, but his shot was off the mark.
Ohio Wesleyan broke an 8-8 tie with a 13-1 run that included a 3-pointer from Hinkle and 2 by Carter on the way to a 21-9 lead. The Big Red rallied to go up, 27-25, on a Nick Heath 3-pointer, but Ward got hot from long range, hitting a trio of 3-pointers during the final 4 minutes of the half to help the Bishops to a 43-36 halftime lead.
The Bishops shot 60 percent (9 of 15) from long distance during the first half, and continued that torrid clip early in the second half, with Hinkle drilling a pair of trifectas and Ward adding another for a 56-46 lead with 11:43 to play. Ward’s next 3-pointer provided Ohio Wesleyan with the 65-57 lead, setting up the thrilling conclusion.
Ward led the Bishops with a career-high 29 points, going 7-for-9 from downtown on the day. Hinkle finished with 23 points and Carter grabbed a game-high 9 rebounds.
OWU Sports Information contributed to this report.
