Scots Hold Off Late Hiram Comeback Attempt

Aided by 48.1 percent field goal shooting in the opening stanza, including 75 percent from three-point range, The College of Wooster posted a mark in the win column, having to hold off a late Hiram College comeback bid, as the visitors came out on top by a 67-55 count in North Coast Athletic Conference action Wednesday evening inside Price Gymnasium.

Maintaining its double-digit lead out of the halftime break, Wooster slowly edged its lead out to the largest of the contest at 22 (60-38) with 7:26 left when senior Meredith Wilson nailed a three-pointer for Wooster. However, a 17-2 run by Hiram over the ensuing 5:41 of action quickly sliced the Scots' lead to just seven (62-55) with 1:45 showing on the clock.

Wooster, however, closed the game with a 5-0 spurt on a jumper and pair of free throws by Kym Wenz and a jumper by Meredith Wilson to seal the 12-point victory.

The Fighting Scots (8-14, 6-7 NCAC) built a quick five-point lead (10-5) when Wenz hit a three-point field goal at the 15:23 mark. That advantage grew to 10 (19-9) on an old-fashioned three-point play from Keshia Butler with 11:46 left in the opening half, but the host Terriers (6-16, 4-9 NCAC) reeled off the next nine points, cutting the Wooster advantage to one (19-18) with 8:26 remaining in the period.

Wooster responded with a 17-5 run over the remainder of the first 20 minutes, including seven points from Wenz, the final two coming on a made jumper with :41 left giving the Scots a 36-23 halftime lead.

For the game, Wooster connected on 20-of-46 of its shots, including 6-of-8 from long-range, while the Terriers hit 21-of-60 attempts from the field (35 percent) and made good on just 3-of-16 shots from three-point land (18.8 percent). The Scots committed just 13 turnovers for the contest, but Hiram managed to score nine points off Wooster's miscues, while Hiram turned the ball over nine times, but Wooster converted those into 19 points. Additionally, Hiram snagged 38 rebounds, while Wooster collected 33 for their cause.

Leading Wooster was Wenz, who fired in a game-high 25 points while adding six rebounds and went a perfect 11-of-11 at the charity stripe, as the Scots nailed 21-of-25 attempts at the line for 84 percent. Classmate Kaitlin Krister was close behind with 17 markers, adding a team-high nine boards and trying Butler for team-high honors by dishing out three assists. Wilson also finished the game in double-figures, bucketing 13 points and grabbing five rebounds.

Ashley Drum led the Terriers scoring 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting and 2-of-3 at the line, while Brittany Mayle and Kelsey Durichko added 12 and nine points, respectively. Also of note, Alex Dellas tacked on four points and a team-high nine boards.

The Scots will return to action on Saturday, when they travel to Wittenberg University (12-10, 7-7 NCAC) for a key contest scheduled for a 3 p.m. tip as part of a day-night doubleheader followed by the school's respective men's game at 7:30 p.m. Back on January 31 inside Timken Gymnasium, Wooster utilized a hot-shooting night en route to a 75-67 victory over the Tigers.