Beavers Edge Past Scots 73-70 Despite Krister’s Career-High 26 Points

WOOSTER, Ohio - Junior Kaitlin Krister netted 14 of her game- and career-high 26 points in the second half to fuel a comeback by The College of Wooster women's basketball team against non-conference foe Bluffton University, but the visiting Beavers managed to survive the surge and escaped Timken Gymnasium with a 73-70 victory.

Trailing by as many eight points with 17:52 left in regulation, the Fighting Scots clawed their way back and tied the contest at 47-47 with a 17-9 run that covered 8:25 of play. Junior Kym Wenz poured in six points during that stretch as part her 14-point game, while freshman Keshia Butler accounted for four of her career-high 15 in her first collegiate start.

The rest of the contest featured a see-saw battle between the two teams, with Bluffton gaining as much as a 10-point advantage at 70-60 with 1:51 left. However, the Scots rattled off a furious 10-2 run and cut the Bluffton advantage to two at 72-70 with just four seconds left on a lay-up from Butler. Bluffton's Vicki Auer split a pair of free throws, but Butler managed to get across mid-court and heave a deep three-pointer at the buzzer that was just off the mark.

In the opening stanza, Wooster opened up leads of 20-12 and 24-14, but Bluffton (4-1) answered with a 13-0 run and held a 27-24 lead with 5:39 left. Wooster regained a slim one-point advantage at 28-27 via a pair of charity tosses and a lay-up from Krister with 2:54 showing on the clock, but Bluffton responded back with a 9-2 surge to end the opening half.

On the afternoon, Krister completed her career-high game canning 9-of-15 attempts from the floor and 8-of-13 from the charity stripe. She also tallied 11 caroms for her third double-double in as many games this season for Wooster to go along with a team-best three blocks.

Wenz picked up a game-high five steals to go along with her 14 points for Wooster, while Butler accumulated three assists and two steals.

Rachel Daman led a quartet of Bluffton players in double figures with 20 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and 9-of-10 at the free throw line. Emily Shellabarger finished with 18 points to go with seven rebounds, while Ginny Buckingham posted a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Additionally, Vicki Auer chipped in with 11 points for the visitors.

With the win, Bluffton evens the all-time series between the two schools that dates back to the 1980-81 season at six wins apiece.

Next up for Wooster (1-2, 0-0 NCAC) is its North Coast Athletic Conference opener as it travels to Oberlin College (0-3, 0-0 NCAC) on Wednesday at 7 p.m.