GREENCASTLE, Ind. — The second-seeded Wittenberg women's basketball team fell 61-48 to third-seeded Ohio Wesleyan in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals at site host DePauw on Friday evening.

The Basics

• Records: Wittenberg (19-7 overall), Ohio Wesleyan (22-5 overall)
• Venue: Neal Fieldhouse - Greencastle, Ind.
• Tournament Site
• Tournament Bracket
• Wittenberg swept both games against Ohio Wesleyan during the regular season, winning 70-66 on Jan. 20 and 76-73 on Feb. 17.
• The tournament champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Stat Leaders

• Senior Jade Simpson (Edgewood, Ky./Holy Cross) led the Tigers in scoring with 13 points to go with five rebounds and three steals.
• Junior Riane Burton (Houston, Texas/Cypress Ranch) tallied nine points and 11 rebounds. She had nine points and eight rebounds in the first half.
• Junior Kelsey Ragan (Whitehouse, Ohio/Anthony Wayne) and graduate student McKenna Baker (Brownsburg, Ind./Bethesda Christian) finished with six points each.
• Junior Jazmyn Gaines-Burns (Bladensburg, Md./Elizabeth Seton) posted a team-best five assists.
• Kasey Schipfer led OWU with 22 points and 11 rebounds.

The Game

• A tightly contested first half was played within a seven-point spread with Wittenberg's largest lead being four points and OWU leading by as many as three points.
• The Tigers led 12-8 on a 3-pointer from Baker with 3:41 left in the first quarter and 14-10 on a layup from Baker with 3:05 left in the period.
• Wittenberg led 18-15 at the end of the first quarter.
• The Battling Bishops outscored the Tigers 13-7 in the second quarter to take a 28-25 halftime edge.
• Junior Taryn Cash (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton) opened the second-half scoring with a 3-pointer to tie the score at 28-all.
• The Tigers took a 33-32 lead on a 3-pointer from Simpson with 6:27 left in the third quarter. From there, OWU answered with a 13-2 run for a 45-35 edge with 2:02 left in the period en route to taking a 47-38 lead into the fourth quarter.
• The Bishops extended their lead to 55-40 with 6:21 left in the game en route to the victory.
• Wittenberg shot 35.8% from the floor, made 6-of-19 3-pointers for 31.6% and made 4-of-7 free throws for 57.1%.
• OWU shot 45.6% from the floor, made 2-of-8 3-pointers for 25% and made 7-of-8 free throws for 87.5%.
• OWU out-rebounded Wittenberg by a 38-25 margin.

Quote - Head coach Melissa Kolbe

• Thoughts on the season as a whole and on seniors Jade Simpson and Evie Wolshire: "This game doesn't encapsulate our season and everything we've done this year with how much these girls have grown and how well we've played together and followed the game plan and done what we needed to do the last third of the season. I'm really proud of this bunch. Winning a regular-season championship isn't easy and going on the road and winning games isn't easy. We picked a bad time to not play our best game, and I hate it for Jade and Evie. I'm so proud of them, though, for the standard they set for us moving forward with what they've done in my two years as a head coach. It wouldn't have been as easy for me without them, and I am so thankful to them for everything they've given to this program, and I know they've left a mark on this program and will forever be people that we talk about."

Records & Milestones

• Simpson was named to the All-Tournament Team.
• The Tigers earned their league-leading 14th NCAC regular-season title this year. This year marked the first time in NCAC women's basketball history that tri-champions were crowned, as DePauw and Ohio Wesleyan tied Wittenberg atop the conference standings.
• Wittenberg is now 59-31 all-time against Ohio Wesleyan, including a 9-7 mark in the NCAC Tournament.
• Second-year head coach Melissa Kolbe is now 40-12 all-time at Wittenberg.
• Cash has 134 assists this season, which is a program record for assists in a season. The old mark was 118 set by Delaney Williams in 2021-22. Her 265 career assists rank fifth in program history. She entered Friday's game ranked second in the NCAC in assists per game (5.2).
• Burton entered Friday's game ranked second in the NCAC in rebounds per game (8.9).

Up Next

• The Tigers will hope to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament when selections are made on Monday. In the most recent NCAA Division III regional rankings, which were released Feb. 18, Wittenberg is ranked No. 5 in Region VII behind Hope, DePauw, Baldwin Wallace and Marietta.