Second-Half Run Leads Scots To 77-71 Season-Opening Win

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster women's basketball team utilized a 15-6 run covering 3:54 of action in the second half en route to beating the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford 77-71 Saturday afternoon during the first-round of action in the 13th annual Nan Nichols Classic inside Timken Gymnasium.

The Lady Panthers (0-2) came out of the halftime break with a 7-4 run over the first 2:18 of play that cut Wooster's eight-point halftime advantage to five at 34-29. The two teams traded buckets with the Scots holding a 38-31 lead. Wooster rattled off their run, including nine points from senior Meredith Wilson, and possessed a 53-37 bulge with 11:58 remaining in the contest.

That lead ballooned to 19 at 64-45 in favor of the Scots with 8:20 left, but the Lady Panthers weren't finished. The visitors reeled off runs of 9-0 and 19-5 to cut the Wooster lead to four at 73-69 with 1:04 showing on the clock. However, Pitt-Bradford ran out of steam in their comeback bid, and the Scots held on for the six-point victory. The win sends the Scots back to the tournament finals, after missing out on an appearance during the 2007-08 season.

It looked as if the game would be a battle between the two squads with the Fighting Scots jumping out to a quick 5-0 lead on a three-pointer by junior guard Colleen Goodwillie and a jumper in the paint by junior Kaitlin Krister, only to have Pitt-Bradford take the lead at 6-5 on a pair of free throws from Hollie Rapp.

The Scots would regain the lead at 9-8 when Krister knocked down a charity toss with 12:24 on the clock, and built as much as a 10-point cushion (22-12) with 6:41 left before the Lady Panthers used an 8-2 run to make its way back into the contest at 24-20. Wooster closed out the opening stanza on a 6-2 spurt and maintained a 30-22 advantage.

The Scots wound up with three players scoring in double figures, with junior Kym Wenz leading the way with 24 points. Krister tossed in 19 points and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds for her initial double-double this season and seventh of her career. Wilson scored 11 points, adding four boards and three assists. Krister matched Wilson for team-high honors dishing out three assists for Wooster, respectively.

Katie Moore paced the Lady Panthers with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Maria Costanza finished with 17 points and three helpers, while Danielle Zeamer came off the bench tallying 13 points and four assists.

In the day's first contest, Manchester took advantage of a big second-half explosion and defeated Bethany. Bethany led 35-21 at the break, but the Spartans outscored the Bison 38-17 during the second 20 minutes moving Manchester into tomorrow's title game via a 59-52 victory.

Manchester's Kelley Meiklejohn led three players in double figures with 30 points as well as pulling down eight rebounds. Rachel Wilkinson and Sarah Bose posted 11 markers apiece, while Bose chipped in with a game-high five steals.

Kaitlin McCormick was the lone player for the Bison in double figures with 13 points, while Tara Harris added eight points and a team-high six rebounds in just 19 minutes of play.

Tournament action will resume Sunday, with Bethany taking on Pitt-Bradford in the consolation game slated for 1 p.m. The championship game will immediately follow, at approximately 3 p.m. and will pit Wooster against Manchester.