Bishops Find Way Late to Edge Scots in NCAC Play

The College of Wooster women's basketball team used a 17-0 run between the third and fourth quarters to establish a late lead over Ohio Wesleyan, but the Battling Bishops finished strong in the final four minutes and left Timken Gymnasium with a 69-65 North Coast Athletic Conference win on Saturday.

The Scots erased a nine-point deficit with a 12-0 run to open the fourth quarter, highlighted by back-to-back acrobatic layups from Anna Gibbs and five points from Sarah Marion.

Wooster (3-5, 0-4) led by five with 3:50 remaining but entered a scoring drought going 0-for-5 with two turnovers, while Ohio Wesleyan (6-2, 3-0) did just enough to pull away for the win. Claire Sterling's 3-pointer with 2:38 left tied the game at 65, and Cierra Joiner gave the Bishops the lead for good with a score in the paint with 1:53 remaining.

With 21 seconds remaining, Joiner put the game out of reach with another basket.

Tia Karras led all scorers with 18 points. Joiner added 12 points and eight rebounds off the bench for the Bishops.

Wooster held freshman Devin Hefner to just two points on 1-of-10 shooting. Hefner entered the day leading the NCAC in points with 18.

For the Scots, Gibbs led the team with 14 points, five assists and four rebounds. Senior Kyle Croxton added 13 points, and Marion scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds.

Aubri McKoy was two points shy of a double-double at eight points and 11 rebounds. Maria Janasko added nine points, and Sarah Rapacz scored eight.

The first quarter was all Wooster from the opening tip as a quick and-one conversion from junior Akwia Tilton gave Wooster the early lead. That started a 7-0 run to start the game and a 22-12 first quarter.

The Scots upped the lead to 16 with 5:52 left in the first half. However, Ohio Wesleyan started a 17-4 run to close the first half to only trail 36-33 at halftime.

Ohio Wesleyan then scored the first five points of the third quarter to take their first lead. Gibbs hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 43 but Ohio Wesleyan again put together another run, this time outscoring the Scots 11-1 in a 3-minute span. They held a 58-49 lead after three quarters.

Wooster held the slight rebounding advantage 44-43 and both teams scored 32 points in the paint.

Wooster shot 37 percent (24-for-65) for the game, 28 percent (5-for-18) from beyond the arc and 50 percent (12-for-24) from the foul line. Ohio Wesleyan also shot 37 percent (25-for-68) and shot 30 percent (6-for-20) from 3-point range and 62 percent (13-for-21) from the charity stripe.

Wooster travels to Geneva College on Monday.