Denison rolled to a 23-4 lead by the end of the first quarter and only added to its edge from there, cruising past the visiting Ohio Wesleyan women’s basketball team 65-33 in NCAC action Wednesday in Granville.

The Bishops (1-19, 0-11) were outscored 11-6 in the second quarter, 23-16 in the third and 8-7 in the fourth to smooth out the scoring summary.

Claire Sterling led OWU with 12 points on 5-for-11 shooting, but didn’t get a ton of help. No other Bishop finished with more than five points – a mark equaled by Nicole Popovich and Kayla Richard. Popovich chipped in a team-high 11 rebounds while Meghann Dunning added a team-best two assists in the setback.

Olentangy Liberty grad Lauren Hofer led Denison (9-12, 4-8) with 17 points to go with six rebounds. Valesha Province and Alison Schafer were also solid for the Big Red, closing with 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Ohio Wesleyan returns to action Saturday against visiting Kenyon. Tip is set for 1 p.m.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Ohio Wesleyan hung around early, but host Denison took charge midway through the opening period and parlayed a 41-25 halftime edge into an 83-62 NCAC win Wednesday night in Granville.

Maxwell Siwik and Jack Coulter combined for 37 points and nine three-pointers for the Big Red. Denison was hot from downtown most of the night, connecting on more than half of its threes (14-for-27).

Johnny Vernasco and Garrett Collier added to what was a balanced Big Red attack. Both finished with 12 points.

Seth Clark led Ohio Wesleyan (14-6, 9-4) with 10 points while Nate Axelrod and Jaret Gerber added nine apiece.

The Bishops will look to get back on track Saturday against visiting Kenyon. Tip is set for 3 p.m.