Scots Stumble at OWU, Lose 66-52

The College of Wooster women's basketball team scored the first basket of the game at host Ohio Wesleyan Saturday night inside Branch Rickey Arena, but the Battling Bishops rattled off a 6-0 run on their way to a 66-52 win in the second of back-to-back North Coast Athletic Conference games for the Fighting Scots this weekend.

Wooster fell to 3-7 overall and 1-2 in league play this season, while Ohio Wesleyan improved to 7-5 overall and a 3-1 league mark.

The Scots, who led just once in the game on a jumper from Deanna Pickett, cut the deficit to two four times in the opening minutes, and were within a single basket (12-10) at 10:33, following a lay-up by Kym Wenz. That would be the closest Wooster would get the rest of the way as the hosts erupted for an 11-0 run over nearly the next five minutes, and extended their lead to 13 (23-10) with 5:37 left in the opening stanza. The Scots sliced into the Ohio Wesleyan advantage during the final minutes of the first half, trailing by nine (31-22) headed into the break.

Ohio Wesleyan put the advantage at 18 with a 9-0 spurt to start the second half, but now it was Wooster's turn to go on a run. The Scots answered with a quick 7-0 spurt on a jumper from Christina Cruce and five points on a jumper and three-pointer from Wenz, cutting the deficit back down to 11 (40-29) with just over 15 minutes remaining. That proved to be as close as Wooster would manage to get, as the two teams traded baskets over the remainder of the contest.

Wenz led Wooster with 23 points and pulled down a career-best 11 rebounds for her second double-double this season and fourth of her career, while Kaitlin Krister tallied 14 points and 10 boards for her second double-double in as many nights. Keshia Butler came off the Wooster bench to score three points and dish out a team-best five assists.

Ohio Wesleyan was paced by Pam Quigney's 27 points, including knocking down five three-pointers, along with five assists and three steals, while Katie Hamilton and Tyler Cordell contributed 13 and 11 points, respectively, with Hamilton tying Wenz for game-high honors with 11 rebounds. Kayla Gordon also hit double digits, chipping in with 10 points. Cordell and Lea Mackenbach grabbed eight rebounds apiece, helping Ohio Wesleyan hold a 51-35 advantage on the boards.

Wooster will have a few days off, and will look to snap a four-game losing skid, on Wednesday when it hosts Kenyon College (3-8, 2-1 NCAC) for a 7:30 p.m. conference contest inside Timken Gymnasium.