Lauren Woeste and Wartburg hold a comfortable lead over the rest of the ARC after Wednesday night's results. File photo by d3photography.com

Wartburg, Baldwin Wallace, and UW-Oshkosh defended their positions atop their conferences by beating title contenders on Wednesday night, while Ohio Wesleyan seized first place in the NCAC and TCNJ created a three-way tie for first in the NJAC.

• Wednesday scoreboard: Men | Women
• Updated Top 25: Men | Women
• Wednesday men: Top-ranked UW-Platteville falls 
• More men’s headlines
• More women’s headlines

Points were at a premium in Iowa on Wednesday night, and No. 12 Wartburg got enough of them to defeat Coe, 55-49.

Lauren Woeste scored four points to close the first half and send Wartburg into the locker room with a 30-23 lead and teammate Sara Faber continued the Knights’ run with the first four points of the second half. After falling behind by double digits, Coe scratched back within three points with 52 seconds left, but Grace Hennessy responded with Wartburg’s seventh and final three of the night to close out the scoring.

Coe shot 41 percent from the floor but had as many field goals as turnovers (19). Woeste posted her eighth career double-double (15 points, 11 rebounds), and Wartburg defeated Coe for the seventh straight time. The Knights (15-2, 8-0) also picked up a game on Luther since the Norse fell at Central, 72-63. Warburg now sits three games in front of three teams in the ARC.

No. 11 Baldwin Wallace kept first place in the OAC to itself as the Yellow Jackets downed John Carroll, 68-60. Baldwin Wallace got 10 points apiece from reserves Maddie Ebbert and Ava Wilkerson as part of a 36-13 bench scoring advantage. Baldwin Wallace completed a perfect run through the first round of OAC play and has a two-game lead on four teams in the OAC standings.

No. 4 UW-Oshkosh passed another test in the grueling WIAC by holding off UW-Stevens Point at home, 54-50. The Titans held a 15-point lead entering the fourth quarter but went cold, shooting 2 for 12 in that period. UW-Stevens Point tied the game at 50-all on Maija Rice’s jumper with 1:59 remaining but UW-Oshkosh shut out the Pointers the rest of the way and regained the lead on Paige Seckar’s jumper in the closing minute.

After scoring 19 points against UW-Stout on Saturday, Seckar posted a double-double for the Titans (11 points, 10 rebounds), who improve to 16-0, 5-0 in conference. Alexa Thompson paced UW-Stevens Point (13-4, 3-3 WIAC) with 17 points, eight rebounds, and four assists.

No. 7 Smith held Babson to two points in the final period and rallied past the Beavers, 57-50, for the Pioneers’ 10th straight win. The Pioneers held Babson without a field goal (0 for 15) in the fourth quarter and took the lead when Hannah Martin scored nine straight. She finished with 16 points and Ally Landau added 18 more for Smith (14-1, 2-0 NEWMAC).

No. 14 Ohio Wesleyan seized first place in the NCAC with a 68-56 win at DePauw, as All-American Kasey Schipfer poured in 26 points for the Battling Bishops. Ohio Wesleyan outscored the Tigers 32-16 in the paint and shot 52 percent from the field. The Battling Bishops (15-2, 6-0 NCAC) will host the rematch with DePauw in the penultimate game of the regular season.

Messiah built a 47-31 halftime lead at Widener and held off the Pride, 73-62, to grab first place in the MAC Commonwealth. The Falcons made six of eight 3-point attempts in the first half and got 41 points combined from Chloe Milanesi and Reese Harden. Messiah (14-2, 5-0 MACC) will host Widener in the rematch in mid-February.

Marisa Ziegler scored a career-high 17 points and Randolph-Macon topped Shenandoah, 60-55, for its 15^th consecutive win. Catherine Kagey also scored 17 for the Yellow Jackets and had a critical steal in the final minute that helped seal Randolph-Macon’s win.

Chatham had four starters score double figures, and the Cougars dealt PAC leader Washington and Jefferson a 67-62 road loss. Hannah Chenault and Charjae Brock combined for 33 points on 11-for-22 shooting for Chatham (12-4, 10-2 PAC), which split the regular season series with the Presidents and sits a game behind them in the conference standings.

TCNJ created a three-way tie for first place in the NJAC by beating William Paterson, 69-54. TCNJ shot 47 percent from the field and 46 percent from three while Briana Smith scored 30 points for the Pioneers. TCNJ, William Paterson and Montclair State share the NJAC lead at 8-2 each, but the Lions have swept the regular season series with WPUNJ.

A pair of coaches picked up their 300^th career victory with comfortable wins on Wednesday night. Mount Union rolled over Muskingum 70-38 for Suzy Venet’s 300^th win with her alma mater while No. 10 Christopher Newport cruised past Virginia Wesleyan, 76-31, for Bill Broderick’s 300^th win.