DELAWARE, Ohio – The 9th/7th-ranked Ohio Wesleyan University women's basketball team played their penultimate home game of the 2025-26 regular season on Saturday, hosting round two with Wittenberg at Branch Rickey Arena. The Battling Bishops started out hot but the Tigers would make it a game in the end, with OWU taking a slim six-point victory at 65-59.

The Red and Black improve to 18-2 on the season and stay atop the NCAC standings at 9-1. Wittenberg falls to 11-10 overall and 4-6 in conference play.

The Bishops got on top early, starting the game on a 9-2 run through the first five minutes, led by Alyssa Griner with four points and Carly Lehman with three. Ohio Wesleyan's stifling defense was on full display as the Battling Bishops forced 10 turnovers and held Wittenberg to just four points in the first quarter. OWU would finish the quarter on a 7-2 run, leading to a 16-4 advantage at the first break.

Wittenberg woke up a bit in the second quarter, scoring 24 as compared to 15 from the Red and Black. This left Ohio Wesleyan with a slim three-point lead at the half, up 31-28. Katie Neuhart – making her first career start – put up seven in the period to lead the Battling Bishops.

The second half was a tight contest with Wittenberg taking the lead at the 7:45-mark of the third quarter. From there it was a back-and-forth contest until the Bishops pulled ahead at the 3:20-mark, eventually going on to outscore the Tigers 16-13 in the quarter and taking a six-point lead into the final 10 minutes.

In the end, six points would be enough as the two sides stalemated in the fourth quarter, each putting up 18 points to leave the final score at 65-59 in favor of OWU.

THE NUMBERS
Alyssa Griner led the way with 12 points on 5-of-9 from the field and 2-of-3 from the free throw line. She also pulled down a team-leading seven rebounds with three steals and one assist.

Katie Neuhart turned in 11 points – her second-highest career total – along with five rebounds, a career-high three assists, and two steals in her first career start.

Kendall Dieringer and Carly Lehman both netted 10 points. Dieringer also recorded three steals, two rebounds, and one assist while Lehman managed three rebounds and two steals. Notably, Lehman was 4-of-5 from the field and 2-for-2 from three-point range – her best shooting day of the season so far.

Maddie Ebbert tallied nine points with four rebounds, two assists, two steals, and one block.

Nora Johns scored six points alongside three rebounds and one block.

Mia Guscoff finished with a career-high four rebounds as well as two assists and one steal.

UP NEXT
The Battling Bishops hit the road on Wednesday to play Kenyon. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.