Wooster Never Trails in 66-58 Win Over Allegheny on Senior Night

WOOSTER, Ohio – Behind Kym Wenz's game-high 22 points and Kaitlin Krister's double-double, The College of Wooster women's basketball team took it to Allegheny College on "Senior Night," as the Fighting Scots never trailed in a decisive 66-58 win at Timken Gymnasium. It was also the annual Women's Basketball Coaches Association Pink Zone game, which is an initiative to help raise breast cancer awareness.

With the win, the Fighting Scots (9-13, 6-7 NCAC) are now tied with the Gators (9-13, 6-7) for fifth-place in the North Coast Athletic Conference standings, and sit just one game behind third-place Denison University (15-7, 7-6 NCAC) and Kenyon College (14-8, 7-6 NCAC) with three games remaining in the regular season.

Wenz and Krister got Wooster rolling in the early goings, as the senior duo scored all 10 points in the Scots' 10-2 run that started the game. A Brittany Bell 3-pointer allowed Allegheny to creep back within three (10-7), but Wooster extended its lead to 17-7 with 10:31 remaining in the half.

The Gators then went on a 9-0 run over a two-minute span that drew them within one (17-16), but the Scots went back to work as Kristen Schwartz scored in the paint on a Keshia Butler dish, and Wenz knocked down her second 3-pointer of the half to push Wooster's advantage back up to eight (28-20).

Wenz's 3-pointer was her 59th of the season, breaking the program's single-season record of 58 3-pointers that was held by Meredith Wilson (2007-08).

Allegheny chipped away at its deficit, as Britni Mohney connected from behind the arc and Heidi Goeller hit a jumper on an assist from Laura Magnelli in the final minutes that brought the Gators within two (32-30) at the break.

The second half was all Krister and Schwartz, as the two combined to hit Wooster's initial six field goals of the period, including a back down move by Schwartz in the paint that pushed the Scots' lead to 11 (47-36), its largest of the night.

The Scots led by at least six for a 13-minute stretch during the second stanza, but Allegheny made one last run, culminating in a hard earned three-point play by Goeller which cut Wooster's lead to 60-58 with 1:39 remaining in the contest.

Wenz then drove to the hoop on the other end, but stopped and dished an excellent bounce pass to Schwartz, and the latter drained a wide-open jumper to put Wooster ahead 62-58. On the ensuing play, Wenz came up with a steal to slow down Allegheny, and Taylor Keegan then made steals on two-consecutive Gator possessions to prevent a late comeback.

Keegan and Wenz both went 2-for-2 from the charity stripe during the closing seconds to seal the win. Heading into tonight's game, Wooster had lost eight-straight tilts against Allegheny.

Wenz finished the game with 22 points on 7-of-15 shooting, while Krister amassed 12 points and 15 rebounds, just one board shy of her career high.

For the second-straight game Schwartz was highly productive, as she followed up her career-best 17-point outing on Saturday with a 16-point effort (8-of-9) tonight, and also chipped in seven rebounds and two blocked shots.

Allegheny was paced by Bell, who scored 14 points with four 3-pointers, and Goeller added 13 tallies and three boards.

Wooster will be back in action this Saturday when it travels to Wittenberg University (16-6, 14-0 NCAC) to challenge the unbeaten Tigers at 2 p.m.