Senior guard Kasey Schipfer and freshman post Macy Miller scored 6 points apiece during the first quarter as the Ohio Wesleyan women’s basketball team outscored Wooster 25-4 on the way to a lopsided 82-37 North Coast Athletic Conference win on Wednesday in Wooster.
The win moves Ohio Wesleyan to 11-2 in the league standings, a full game ahead of Wittenberg and DePauw (10-3), and clinches a share of the NCAC championship for the Battling Bishops. The NCAC crown is Ohio Wesleyan’s first since the 2000-01 season, when Ohio Wesleyan and Allegheny shared the conference championship. Ohio Wesleyan can win the 2023-24 title outright with a win over Wittenberg on Saturday.
The win also was Ohio Wesleyan’s 20th of the season, the Bishops’ second 20-win season in the last 3 years under head coach Stacey Ungashick Lobdell and Ohio Wesleyan’s 11th overall 20-win season.
Schipfer converted a 3-point play to open the scoring, but Wooster’s Ella Biondi answered with a lay-in to bring the Fighting Scots within 3-2.
Ohio Wesleyan then took off on a 15-0 run, with junior post Alyssa Griner sinking a lay-in and converting a 3-point play, sandwiched around a 3-pointer by senior guard Lauren Denison. Miller followed with a jumper before Schipfer converted another 3-point play, and junior post Karlee Ross added a lay-in that gave the Bishops an 18-2 lead.
Wooster’s Alyssa Chritz hit a jumper from the lane to end the Scots’ scoring drought of nearly 6 minutes, but Miller countered with a pair of hoops from the lane and sophomore guard Mia Guscoff closed out the quarter’s scoring with a 3-pointer for a 25-4 Ohio Wesleyan lead.
The Bishops extended the lead in the second quarter, finishing off the half with a 13-4 run that included a lay-in and a 3-point play from Schipfer and another Denison 3-pointer, and pulled away during the second half.
Schipfer led the Bishops with 21 points, while Ross scored a season-high 15 points and led Ohio Wesleyan with 7 rebounds, and Denison added 10 points. Senior point guard Elizabeth Homan finished with 10 assists, Homan’s fifth double-digit performance in assists this season.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Sophomore wing Jessee Battle had 4 points as Ohio Wesleyan narrowed a double-digit deficit to make it a one-possession game, but Wabash held off the comeback and went on to a 90-76 North Coast Athletic Conference win on Wednesday in Crawfordsville, Ind.
The Little Giants opened the game with 8 straight points, getting a jumper and a 3-pointer from Ahmoni Jones and a 3-pointer from Avery Beaver, then stretched the lead to 19-8 on another Jones 3-pointer.
Ohio Wesleyan rallied with 8 straight points, with Battle connecting from long range and adding a free throw later in the run, and senior post Tony Carter and junior guard Henry Hinkle adding buckets.
The Bishops were still within 3 points after a 3-pointer by junior wing Landon Turnbull made it 24-21, and were as close as 4 points after a Hinkle 3-pointer brought the visitors within 28-24, but a 10-1 Wabash spurt pushed the lead back into double digits.
Carter, Hinkle, and sophomore wing Isaac Ward drained 3-pointers during the early going of the second half, and after another Ward jumper, Ohio Wesleyan was within 51-47. The Bishops were still within 61-54 after a lay-in by junior wing David Rice midway through the half, but Wabash collected 3-pointers from Sam Comer and Beaver during an 18-8 stretch that opened up a 79-62 lead with less than 5 minutes remaining.
Hinkle led the Bishops with 16 points and 5 assists. Battle added 13 points, Rice scored 12, and Carter finished with 10. Rice and Carter each snared 6 rebounds.
OWU Sports Information contributed to this report.
