Third Quarter Rally Leads Gators to 79-69 Win Over Scots

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster women's basketball team struggled to keep up with Allegheny College's top two scoring threats, and a halftime lead later disappeared in a 79-69 loss.

The scoring tandem of Delaney Arbore and Rylee Donovan scored above their season average with 21 apiece to lead the Gators. Julianna Skowron scored 16 points and Kaylah Pinkney added 14. Donovan and Skowron each recorded double-doubles with 12 rebounds each.

The Allegheny starters carried the load as their bench saw a combined 22 minutes of action and scored just two points.

Wooster got 16 points from senior Anna Gibbs, 10 from Akwia Tilton and a career-high 10 points from Jena Copley. Tilton recorded a new career-high in steals with five.

Sarah Rapacz led the team with eight rebounds and four blocks. Kyle Croxton and Maria Janasko scored nine points each.

Wooster held a 44-38 lead at halftime, but Allegheny scored the first two baskets of the third quarter to cut the deficit to one. Allegheny would go on to outscore the Scots 25-13 in the quarter.

The Gators tied it at 55 before Copley put the Scots back up by one. On the other end of the court, a second chance opportunity led to an and-one conversion for Donovan, which gave Allegheny the lead for the remainder of the game with 2:49 remaining in the third quarter.

After Copley's basket with 3:22 left in the third, the Scots hit a scoring drought and didn't score again until a layup from Rapacz with 9:09 left in the game. On the next trip down, Croxton cut the lead to 63-61, but that's as close as the Scots would get.

In the first quarter, the Scots went toe-to-toe with the Gators, holding a slim 26-25 lead. Gibbs scored 11 of her points in the quarter, and Wooster shot 50 percent (10-for-20) from the floor.

They cooled a bit in the second quarter but grew their lead. Sarah Marion was a spark with six second quarter points.

For the game, Wooster shot 31 percent (25-for-81) and 24 percent from beyond the arc (5-for-21). They were 14-for-21 (67 percent) from the foul line.

Allegheny shot 41 percent (29-for-70) from the floor, 39 percent (9-for-23) from deep and 71 percent (12-for-17) from the foul line.

Wooster won the battle of the boards at 51-48. They also outscored the Gators in second chance points, 23-14, and points in the paint, 32-30.

The Scots are now 3-4 overall and 0-3 in North Coast Athletic Conference play. The Gators picked up their first NCAC win and now sit at 4-4 overall and 1-1 in the conference.

Wooster will return to action next Saturday, Dec. 15, when they host Ohio Wesleyan University.