Nora Johns and Ohio Wesleyan ran past Denison and alone into first place in the NCAC on Saturday afternoon. Photo by Zach Taylor

No. 10 Ohio Wesleyan dealt No. 8 Denison its first loss of the season and extended its long winning streak, while No. 9 Hope continued its dominance of archrival Calvin, and No. 20 Carroll shut down No. 13 Illinois Wesleyan in Saturday’s Division III women’s basketball.

• Saturday scoreboard: Men | Women
• Men's recap: Vengeance in the Cards for Wesleyan
• More headlines: Men | Women
• Friday recap: NYU sweeps WashU in St. Louis 

Ohio Wesleyan used an 18-0 fourth-quarter run to rally past Denison, 72-65, and take sole possession of first place in the NCAC in front of an energized crowd at Branch Rickey Arena.

Denison led 62-52 with 4:30 remaining when the Battling Bishops lived up to their name and fought back, first from the foul line where they scored five straight. Macy Miller followed with a layup and Kendall Dieringer scored five straight to put OWU in front for good. Miller posted 24 points and 13 rebounds for Ohio Wesleyan (16-1, 7-0 NCAC), which has won 15 in a row. Ada Taute tallied 12 points, 10 rebounds, and five steals for Denison (17-1, 6-1 NCAC) whose loss leaves five undefeated Division III women’s basketball teams.

The other two in action on Saturday won easily. No. 3 UW-Oshkosh dismantled UW-Stout, 75-49, and No. 5 Johns Hopkins doubled up Muhlenberg, 72-36.

No. 9 Hope beat Calvin for the 22^nd time in 23 games, but this one didn’t come easy, as the Flying Dutch absorbed two late game-tying shots and knocked off the Knights 57-50 in overtime.

For the second straight game, Calvin held a ranked foe without a field goal in the first quarter, and the Knights led 13-4 after one period and 25-11 at the half. Hope shot better in the second half and took a 50-48 lead on Terin Maynard’s runner with three seconds left in the fourth quarter. Calvin called time out and found Ryann Rohrer’s whose jumper bounced off the rim and through, sending the game to overtime.

The game looked like it was going to a second overtime when Calvin’s Katelyn Larue hit a game-tying three with four seconds left. But this time Hope called time out and gave the ball to Maddie Petroelje who drove to her left and scored the game-winning basket. The Flying Dutch improve to 16-2, 9-1 in conference and sit a half game back of No. 25 Trine in the MIAA standings. The Thunder cruised past Olivet, 92-39. 

No. 20 Carroll moved into first-place tie in the CCIW with No. 13 Illinois Wesleyan by taking down the Titans, 68-48. The Pioneers held IWU to 29 percent shooting and shot 48 percent from the field themselves. Emilie Winzer scored a season-high 25 points with five 3-pointers, and Natalie Gricius finished one rebound shy of a double-double for Carroll (14-4, 8-1 CCIW).

Emily Anderson’s late three lifted UW-River Falls over No. 18 UW-Platteville, 62-60, sending the Pioneers to their third loss in four games. Anderson scored 17 points, and Zoey Buchan added 13 more for the Falcons (11-7, 4-3 WIAC), who have won three of their last four.

Bethel welcomed back All-American Elly Schmitz and got a big game from Emily Erickson, as the Royals defeated No. 24 Concordia-Moorhead, 59-54, sweeping the season series with the Cobbers. Erickson scored 23 points and went 9-for-9 from the foul line, while Schmitz scored six points in 20 minutes after missing Bethel’s last seven games. The Royals and Cobbers are two of seven teams separated by one game in the MIAC standings.

No. 7 Bowdoin scored just enough to get past Colby, 61-59, and sweep its CBB rivals on the road. Carly Davey hit two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, the latter giving Bowdoin a 56-53 lead midway through the period. Colby hung tough and stayed within two possessions of the Polar Bears the rest of the game, getting as close as 61-59 on Kate Olenik’s layup. The Mules stopped Bowdoin on its next possession and had a chance to tie or win the game, but missed their final three, and Bowdoin survived.

Bowdoin (15-1, 4-0 NESCAC) was led by Abbie Quinn, who had 18 points, and its bench that outscored Colby’s reserves 19-0.

In other key conference clashes...

• Warburg earned a regular-season split with Coe and a share of first place by beating Kohawks in Waverly, Iowa, 52-46. The Knights scored 23 points off 26 Kohawk turnovers and held Coe to 36 percent shooting. Wartburg (12-6, 8-1 ARC) has held its last nine opponents to 50 points or less.
• Centre outscored Trinity (Texas) 25-12 in the fourth quarter to force overtime in San Antonio, and then the Colonels marched past the Tigers to victory, 84-76. Centre guard Lilly Reid scored 14 of her 18 points in the final periods, and the Colonels (16-2, 6-1 SAA) now share first place with Trinity.
• Tabitha DeVries scored 21 points in 25 minutes, and Houghton surprised Empire 8 leader SUNY Geneseo, 77-53. The Highlanders (12-4, 4-4 E8) hit 13 three-pointers, while the Knights dropped into a three-way tie for first with Brockport and Nazareth.