Scots Drop Heartbreaker to Kenyon on "Senior Day"

WOOSTER, Ohio - The College of Wooster women's basketball team's game-winner hit the rim with 2 seconds left, and the Fighting Scots' had another potential chance with 0.2 seconds remaining, but could not get a tip attempt off in time as Kenyon College won a back-and-forth thriller 65-64 on "Senior Day" at Timken Gymnasium.

Senior Lauren Hancher tied the contest at 61 with 1:57 remaining in the fourth period. The dual-sport standout finished with a game-high 25 points to cap her career with 1,415. Also of note, Hancher went a perfect 6-for-6 on the afternoon at the charity stripe, moving the standout free-throw shooter to 236-for-291 (.811) for her career, a percentage third in the program annals.

Wooster (6-19, 2-14 North Coast Athletic Conference) last led 55-54 at the 5:55 mark of the fourth period when first-year Christina Vukovich got loose underneath for a layup off of the feed from Hancher.

Kenyon (17-8, 11-5 NCAC) answered back 17 ticks later with a 3-pointer from Hannah O'Day, as part of a game-clinching 7-0 run.

Wooster cut its deficit back to one possession on a layup from first-year Anna Gibbs which made it a 61-59 count with 2:30 remaining.

The Scots twice pulled within one point, first of a free throw from Vukovich with 1:07 remaining that made the score 63-62, and later on a Vukovich lay-in with 42 ticks left that made it a 65-64 contest.

Hancher helped Wooster get off to a strong straight with six of the Scots' first eight points. Wooster would also have contributions from Gibbs, Vukovich, junior Sydney Failing, and first-year Shar Hankerson to help open up a 16-13 lead after the first period.

Senior Sydney Grier extended Wooster's lead to six at the onset of the second period with her first of two 3-pointers on the afternoon. Later in the frame, the guard connected again, beating the shot clock to move her into fourth in the program annals with 129 career makes.

The Ladies utilized a 10-4 stretch to open up a three-point (32-29) halftime lead.

Kenyon led by as many as 10 in the third period, but Wooster countered with a run of his own. Failing jump-started a 7-0 rally that was capped by a 3-pointer from Hancher to make it 43-40 with 4:29 left in the stanza. Wooster later trimmed its deficit down to one at 45-44 on a free throw from Gibbs.

Gibbs recorded her second career double-double on the day with a career- and game-high 14 rebounds to go along with 10 points. Of note, Gibbs' 14 rebounds tied Vukovich for the single-game team high for the season.

Also of note, Wooster shot a season-best 50 percent (24-for-48 from the field).

Kenyon was led by Ifeoma Archimalo's 12 points.

Wooster ended its season with a five-win improvement from a year ago.