Hancher Shines in Scots' Wire-to-Wire Win Over Bluffton

WOOSTER, Ohio – Behind Lauren Hancher's career-high 24 points and Maura Hall's 17 rebounds, The College of Wooster women's basketball team ran away with an 86-68 victory over Bluffton University on Tuesday evening at Timken Gymnasium.

The Fighting Scots (5-0) lost to the Beavers (2-2) by 22 points last season, but this time around they never trailed, as they jumped out to a double-digit lead around six minutes into the action, and then kept the pressure on en route to their fifth-straight double-digit win to start the year.

The Scots' new up-tempo offense allowed them to pull ahead in bursts. In the first half, they used an 8-0 scoring run to make it 19-6, and a 9-0 scoring run to go ahead 43-24. Then midway through the second stanza, with the Beavers within nine (64-55), Wooster strung together one more 8-0 run, which included four points from Karley Walker, that put the game out of reach at 72-55.

After using 13 3-pointers to down their last opponent, the Scots won this game on the inside, where they scored 34 points in the paint and another 26 at the free throw line. Hancher was efficient, going 9-of-13 for 24 points, while Hall's 17 boards, including nine on the offensive end, led to many of Wooster's 22 second-chance points.

Hall also notched 10 tallies to complete the double-double. Also notable, Walker scored a season-high 19 points, which included an 11-of-15 effort at the charity stripe, while Sydney Grier chipped in 16, and Rachel Collins added seven points, eight rebounds, and five assists.

Bluffton's leading scorer was Brooke Ruffer with 16 points, 10 which came in the second half.

The Scots will be back in action a week from tomorrow when they visit northeast Ohio foe, Case Western Reserve University (3-3), on Dec. 4 at 7:30 p.m.