Box Score
Wittenberg 56, Ohio Wesleyan 54

by Michaela Alfano '25

Fifth-year guard Kasey Schipfer (Mechanicsburg) sank a pair of free throws to even the score at 54, but Wittenberg's Taryn Cash drove for the go-ahead lay-in and the fifth-seeded Tigers withstood a potential game-winning possession to upset 14th-/15th-ranked Ohio Wesleyan in a North Coast Athletic Conference semifinal on Friday at Branch Rickey Arena.

Wittenberg advances to the tournament championship game to face second-seeded DePauw, a 69-53 winner over sixth-seeded Hiram in Friday's second semifinal.  The Wittenberg-DePauw championship game is scheduled to tip off at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Branch Rickey Arena.

Sophomore post Macy Miller (Marysville/Milford Center Fairbanks) posted a layup and a jumper, which Schipfer followed with a layup and 2 free throws as the Bishops extended a 36-30 lead midway through the third quarter.  Fifth-year point guard Elizabeth Homan (Cincinnati/Anderson) and sophomore guard Carly Lehman (Milford Center/Fairbanks) each notched a 3-pointer to end the quarter with Ohio Wesleyan leading, 50-37.

The Bishops would score only 4 points in the final quarter, with all of them being free throws from Schipfer.  The Tigers rallied with a 4-point play from Mckenna Baker and a 3-pointer and a lay-in by Madi Burnett before Riane Burton's lay-in evened the game at 52.  A steal and lay-in from Jazmyn Gaines-Burns gave the visitors their first lead of the game at 54-52 with 2:18 remaining.

Schipfer was fouled on Ohio Wesleyan's ensuing possession, and sank a pair of free throws to knot the game at 54 with 1:52 to play.

Cash's layup gave the Tigers the lead at 56-54 with :29.2 left.

Wittenberg's Madi Barnett picked off a Homan pass intended for senior post Karlee Ross (Beverly/Fort Frye) with :18 to go, but after a pair of Ohio Wesleyan fouls, Ross deflected an inbounds pass and Homan chased the ball down in the frontcourt, calling time out with :04.5 left to give the Bishops one more chance.

Homan had a good look at a jumper, but it went off the back rim, and junior guard Alexandria Magers (Howard/East Knox) tried for her own off the rebound just before the buzzer sounded.

Fifth-year guard Lauren Denison (Pataskala/Watkins Memorial) sank a jumper to get the game going.  Homan added a quick 3-pointer, and Schipfer posted back-to-back layups as Ohio Wesleyan raced to a 10-2 lead. Miller added 2 jumpers, and the quarter went on scoreless until the Tigers posted a fast-break layup with :33 to go.

The Bishops built up their largest lead of the game at 14 points during the second quarter with 3-pointers from Denison and Homan.  Miller added 4 jumpers, and Ross collected a layup, which sent them to halftime up, 34-25.

Miller led the Bishops with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Schipfer added 16 points.  The 16 points raised Schipfer's career total to 2121 and made Schipfer the NCAC's all-time leading scorer, passing Ohio Wesleyan's Kelly Heil, who scored 2112 points from 2001-05. 

Homan recorded a team-high 5 assists.

Miller represented the Bishops on the all-tournament team.

In Friday's second semifinal, the sixth-seeded Terriers put up a good fight against the second-seeded Tigers, outscoring them in the third quarter and keeping the game within 10 points for multiple stretches, but DePauw was able to pull away for the win.

Box Score