Oberlin Scores Final Eight Points in 68-62 Victory

WOOSTER, Ohio – Oberlin College scored the final eight points Friday night inside Timken Gymnasium, turning a 62-60 deficit with 1:33 left into a 68-62 victory over the host College of Wooster during women's basketball action in North Coast Athletic Conference action.           

The second half was played very closely, featuring 10 ties, no team holding more than a five-point advantage, and five lead changes along the way. Wooster went up by two, 62-60, with 1:33 left on the clock on a lay-up from Keshia Butler.

On the ensuing Oberlin possession, Syrea Thomas split a pair of free throws, cutting the Scots' advantage to one. After a jumper from Meredith Wilson was off the mark, Alyssa Clark nailed two charity tosses to put the Yeowomen ahead by one at 63-62. Following a Wooster turnover, Clark was quickly fouled and calmly converted both free throws.

During the Scots' next offensive time down the floor, a three-point attempt from Kym Wenz clanged around the rim, and she raced in and grabbed the carom, but her jumper from the elbow couldn't find the bottom of the net. After securing the defensive rebound, Oberlin converted 3-of-4 charity tosses from that point on, and secured the conference victory.

Oberlin (5-15, 3-8 NCAC) jumped ahead at the outset when Clark connected on a game-opening three-pointer and Fran Holoman scored a lay-up sandwiched around a lay-up from Wooster's Kaitlin Krister to make it a 5-2 advantage with 18:27 remaining.

The Scots came back to take the lead at 10-5 on a quick 8-0 spurt covering 1:20 of playing time, including old-fashioned three-point plays from both Wenz and Krister.

Wooster (7-13, 5-6 NCAC) continued to pull away, outscoring the visitors by a 16-7 count, and held its largest lead of the contest at 26-12 with 8:49 left in the opening stanza. However, the Yeowomen utilized runs of 8-1 and 8-4 the remainder of the half, including a three-pointer from Clark with eight ticks left, cutting the Wooster advantage to three at 31-28 headed to the locker room.

Offensively, Krister lead the way for Wooster, scoring a team-high 14 points and grabbing a team-best seven rebounds. Freshman Kinsey Walker scored a career-high 10 points on 4-of-8 from the floor and hit both of her free throw attempts in just 13 minutes, while Wilson also wound up in double digits with 12 markers, including two threes. Also of note, Wenz, who had tallied a career-high 33 points in the Scots' 74-57 win back on December 3, was held to nine points and three steals, while Butler also recorded nine points and three steals, and dished out four helpers.

Two players hit double-digits for Oberlin, paced by Clark's 25 points, including 16 in the second 20 minutes, and was a perfect 14-of-14 at the stripe to go along with game-highs in rebounds (14) and assists (5). Thomas also accumulated 14 points and six boards, while Emily Chu Finkel notched six points, seven rebounds, and two steals in the win.

Wooster shot just 37.7 percent (23-of-61) for the game, including 2-of-10 from behind the arc, while Oberlin managed to connect on 38.5 percent of its field goal attempts (20-of-52), At the line, Oberlin knocked down 21-of-28 free throws, all coming after the break, while Wooster canned 14-of-16 freebies.

The Scots have little time to regroup, as they take on Kenyon College (9-11, 8-4 NCAC) on Saturday down in Gambier with tip-off set for 7:30 p.m. Wooster did hand the Ladies one of their four league losses back on January 7 in a 56-48 outcome inside Timken Gymnasium.