Late Push Not Enough as Scots Fall to Gators 66-64

MEADVILLE, Pa. – Senior Anna Gibbs scored a career-high 27 points, but The College of Wooster women's basketball team could not overcome a slow start to Wednesday's contest at Allegheny College in a 66-64 losing effort.

Wooster made things interesting late as Sarah Marion scored five points in a 7-0 run that cut the Allegheny lead to three points with 3:08 remaining.

However, Allegheny's Kaylah Pinkney answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to bring the lead back to nine.

Allegheny led by seven with 1:25 left until Gibbs did all she could to bring the Scots back from the brink, hitting four 3-pointers that eventually brought the Scots to within one at 65-64 with eight seconds remaining. However, after Delaney Arbore hit 1-of-2 free throws, the Scots were unable to get one final shot off.

Arbore finished with 23 points for the Gators, and Pinkney followed with 16. Zoe Soilis scored eight points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

For Wooster, Maria Janasko scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds off the bench. Marion finished with eight points, and McKoy led the team with 11 rebounds, tying a career-high.

Wooster fell behind early with a 20-8 first quarter after shooting just 16 percent. They inched closer in the second quarter, trailing 35-26 at halftime and trailed 48-41 after three quarters.

The Scots ended up shooting 28 percent (21-of-75) from the court, 31 percent (8-for-26) from beyond the arc and 67 percent (14-of-21) from the charity stripe. Gibbs alone finished 9-of-17 from the court and 5-of-12 from deep.

Allegheny shot 36 percent (23-of-64) from the court, 38 percent (9-of-24) from 3-point range and 69 percent (11-of-16) from the foul line.

Wooster held the rebounding advantage 55-47. They also outscored the Gators in the paint, 26-22, second chance points, 22-20, and bench points, 24-6.

Allegheny snapped an eight-game losing streak and is now 6-13 overall and 2-8 in the North Coast Athletic Conference. Wooster falls to 5-14 overall and 1-9 in the NCAC.

The Scots will return to the court next week when they host Kenyon College on Jan. 30.