W&J’s NCAA run ends with loss to Ohio Wesleyan
DELAWARE, Ohio – A historic season for the Washington & Jefferson women’s basketball team came to a close with a 78-65 loss to 18th-ranked Ohio Wesleyan on Saturday evening in the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament at OWU’s Branch Rickey Arena.
The Presidents finish the season with a 24-5 record. The loss concludes a fantastic four-year run for the Presidents’ senior class. The group wraps up as W&J’s all-time winningest class with 94 wins. The group helped W&J achieve history Friday when the Presidents defeated Messiah for the first NCAA Tournament win in program history.
Ohio Wesleyan improves to 25-3 and will advance into the NCAA Sweet 16 against seventh-ranked Baldwin Wallace.
W&J’s Riley DeRubbo pumped in a team-high 19 points and added six rebounds and four steals. Meghan Dryburgh finished her stellar career with 15 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Bryn Bezjak and Katie Kovalchick each tallied 10 points.
Bezjak also scored her 1,000th career point. She finishes her career with 1,005 points.
Ohio Wesleyan’s Katie Schipfer scored a game-high 33 points on 13-for-25 shooting. Elizabeth Homan followed with 18 points.
The Battling Bishops led 23-19 after one quarter and moved out to a 43-27 edge at halftime. W&J overcame a double-digit halftime deficit to beat Messiah, but outscored the host team by only three points in the second half.