Tigers hold off Bishops, 56-49

0

Kasey Schipfer coupled a game-best 25 points with 10 rebounds to keep the Ohio Wesleyan women’s basketball team close, but visiting Wittenberg was too much in the end as the Tigers escaped Wednesday’s battle of North Coast Athletic Conference unbeatens with a 56-49 win.

Defense was the name of the game for Wittenberg (11-3, 3-0 NCAC), which entered the game tied with Ohio Wesleyan (7-7, 2-1 NCAC) atop the league standings.

The Bishops managed just 30-percent shooting against the Tigers — 15-for-50 overall and 2-for-16 from deep. Schipfer proved to be the exception, making six of her 11 shots from the floor. She also got to the free throw line quite a bit, converting 13 of her 14 shots from the charity stripe.

After trailing most of the game, Schipfer put OWU on top, 25-24, after sinking a pair of free throws with 7:36 left in the third quarter.

The lead was short-lived, though, as Wittenberg followed with an 8-0 run to take control. Jaida Malone hit a jumper to put the Tigers back on top about a minute later and, after Kelsey Ragan drilled back-to-back threes, it was a 32-25 game.

The Bishops got as close as two when Lauren Denison hit a triple with 1:53 left in the third, but the Tigers used a hoop from Jazmyn Gaines-Burns to bump it back to six, 41-35, heading into the fourth.

Wittenberg led by as many as 10 in the final quarter before Ohio Wesleyan rallied to cut it to three on a triple by Schipfer with 1:37 left. The spread remained at three until Taryn Cash’s layup with nine seconds left all but sealed the deal.

Denison backed Schipfer with eight points while Elizabeth Homan had seven points and six boards in the setback.

Ragan led the Tigers with 16 points on the strength of four three-pointers, Gaines-Burns had 12 points and Jade Simpson finished with eight points and 11 rebounds.

Next up, Ohio Wesleyan, which saw its two-game winning streak snapped, will look to start a new one against host Oberlin Saturday afternoon. Tip is slated for 1 p.m.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Henry Hinkle and Jack Clement finished with 25 and 20 points, respectively, and combined for eight three-pointers to lead Ohio Wesleyan to a 74-60 North Coast Athletic Conference win over host Denison Wednesday night.

The Bishops (10-5, 5-1 NCAC) led 24-20 at halftime before outscoring the Big Red (7-7, 3-3 NCAC) 50-40 in the second half to smooth out the scoring summary.

David Rice (11 points) and Grant Spicer (10) also finished in double figures for OWU while Darren Rubin had a team-best 13 points for Denison.

Ohio Wesleyan will look to make it two in a row when it travels to Oberlin Saturday. Tip is scheduled for 3 p.m.

https://www.delgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2023/01/web1_owu-1.jpg

By Ben Stroup

[email protected]

No posts to display