Wooster Edged Out by Allegheny, 79-70

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster and Allegheny College traded leads 15 times during a back-and-forth first half, but the Gators stayed just ahead of the Fighting Scots throughout the second half and came away with a 79-70 victory in a North Coast Athletic Conference tilt Wednesday evening at Timken Gymnasium.

The lead swapped eight times during the opening 5:23 alone, twice via Sydney Grier 3-pointers, but when the Gators got ahead 11-10, they continued to pull away, eventually leading by as much as nine at 29-20.

Wooster responded with a 12-2 scoring run, which culminated with Danielle Besancon delivering a bounce pass to Paige Fabry under the basket for a lay-up that put the Scots up 32-31.

That's when the lead started switching rapidly again – seven more times over the next 3:12 to be exact – highlighted by a difficult baseline lay-up by Aki Shurelds that put Wooster ahead 34-33, and later, Rachel Huxhold drained a long-range 3-pointer from the right wing to make it 39-38 with 1:06 remaining in the half.

Allegheny then scored five unanswered points to go into the break with a four-point lead (43-39).

The Gators remained in front by four or more points for the majority of the second half, although Wooster pulled within three points on three occasions down the stretch.

First, Shurelds dribbled by a defender and sunk a pull-up jumper to cut the deficit to three at 62-59. Later, Lauren Hancher drained a pair of free throws as part of her 17-point second half, to make it a three-point game at 64-61. Finally, on Wooster's very next possession, Grier dished to Besancon for a lay-up that made it 66-63 with 3:09 to go.

That was as close as the Scots could get, as Allegheny answered back each time Wooster put points on the board, including 7-for-8 from the free throw line over the game's final 1:01 to seal the victory.

There were several similarities on the stat sheet, with Wooster and Allegheny shooting an identical 38.7 percent from the field (12-for-31) in the second half. Also, both teams were locked in at the charity stripe, with Wooster making 90.0 percent (9-of-10) and Allegheny shooting 88.9 percent (16-of-18).

Hancher led all scorers with 28 points on 10-of-18 from the field and 7-of-8 at the free throw line. She's averaging 21.2 points per game over her last five. In addition, Hancher pulled down six rebounds and registered a block and a steal.

Shurelds was also a key contributor, as she recorded 11 points – her third double-digit scoring game of the season – and added three rebounds and two steals. Huxhold chipped in 10 tallies and passed out three assists, while Grier (8 points) and Fabry (6 points, 7 rebounds) rounded out the offensive leaders.

Allegheny was paced by Jessica Mrdjenovich who totaled 22 points (4-of-6 3-pointers) and seven rebounds.

The Scots will close out their three-game homestand Saturday when DePauw University (15-1, 8-0 NCAC) visits for a 1 p.m. tip.