Box Score
Ohio Wesleyan 90, Hiram 45

by Michaela Alfano '25

Senior point guard Elizabeth Homan (Cincinnati/Anderson) sent a ball in to senior guard Lauren Denison (Pataskala/Watkins Memorial) with 3:32 left in regulation to tie the Ohio Wesleyan career assists record, and less than a minute later, broke the record with her ninth assist of the game in Ohio Wesleyan's North Coast Athletic Conference quarterfinal win over Hiram on Tuesday at Branch Rickey Arena.

The Bishops never trailed, scoring the first 10 points of the game and holding a comfortable 26-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. OWU limited the Terriers to 28.6 percent shooting in the second, outscoring them, 18-6, in the frame to take a 44-17 advantage into the break.

At the end of the first, Denison was 3-for-3 on 3-pointers with the first 2 coming in the opening 2 minutes of the game to help the Bishops on their 10-0 opening run.

A perfectly placed layup from freshman post Macy Miller (Marysville/Fairbanks) assisted by Denison got the scoring started in the second when the Bishops ran away with the contest. Ohio Wesleyan took off on a 12-0 run, with senior guard Kasey Schipfer (Mechanicsburg) sinking a pair of free throws followed by junior post Karlee Ross (Beverly/Fort Frye) with a tip-in.

They outscored Hiram, 18-6, with the Terriers' first points of the quarter coming at 3:29 off of a free throw from Maddie Stevenson.

Hiram opened the third quarter strong with Ava Morry hitting a layup and a free throw, and adding a block. Ohio Wesleyan shot 37.5 percent compared to Hiram's 63.6 percent in the quarter but managed to score an even 16 points apiece.

With 5:03 left on the clock, Miller sank a turn-around jumper assisted by Schipfer.   Junior post Alyssa Griner (Delaware/Hayes) had a layup and a pair of free throws to help close out the game. Schipfer connected on back-to-back layups, both assisted by Homan, to set the career assist record for the Bishop point guard.

Ohio Wesleyan scored 38 points off of turnovers, 10 fast-break points, and 50 in the paint. The Bishops shot 53.0 percent on the night and 77.3 percent on free throws, going 17-for-22.

Schipfer led the Bishops with 24 points, Denison added 16, and Ross and Griner scored 12 apiece. Miller had 18 points, 5 steals and a team-high 11 rebounds.  Homan finished with 10 assists, raising her career total to 464, surpassing the mark of 462 set by Tyler Cordell from 2007-11.

The Bishops will head to Greencastle, Ind., where they will take on Wittenberg in an NCAC tournament semifinal round of the tournament on Friday at top-seeded DePauw.

Box Score