Wenz Eclipses 1,000-Point Plateau in Scots’ 63-55 Setback to Earlham

WOOSTER, Ohio – Junior Kym Wenz became just the seventh player in the College of Wooster women's basketball program's 45-year history to score 1,000 points when she knocked down a three-pointer with 8:32 left in the first half, but Earlham College spoiled the Scots' home regular-season finale Saturday afternoon with a 63-55 victory inside Timken Gymnasium.

Wooster, which ends its regular season at 8-17 overall and 6-10 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, finished with the No. 6 seed in the conference standings, and will travel to No. 3 seed Allegheny College (14-11, 10-6 NCAC) on Tuesday with a 7:30 p.m. tip-off in the quarterfinal of this year's eight-team league tournament. With the win, Earlham finished its season with a 3-21 mark and 2-14 league record.

Earlham earned the season-series split with the win over the Scots, but it wasn't easy. Out of the halftime break, Wooster cut into a four-point Earlham halftime bulge (28-24) when senior Meredith Wilson, who played in her final game inside Timken Gymnasium, nailed a three on the Scots' first possession. Earlham answered in a big way, reeling off a 13-0 run covering 4:13, and extended its lead to 41-28.

The Quaker advantage steadily increased to 16 at 50-34 with 10:10 left on a pair of free throws by Nikki Darrett. However, an 11-1 Wooster spurt, fueled by a trio of threes by Sarah Abboud, quickly sliced the Earlham lead down to six (51-45) with 4:08 left. After the visitors pushed the bulge back out to 10 (59-49), Wilson and Abboud knocked down back-to-back threes in a span of :12, pulling Wooster to within five (60-55) at the :28 mark. Earlham managed to convert 3-of-4 free throw attempts and thwarted the Wooster comeback attempt.

After the two teams traded buckets over the first 10:07 and saw the score knotted up two times (14-14, 17-17), Earlham rattled off an 11-2 run and led by nine (28-19) with 2:53 left in the opening half. However, Wooster responded and closed out the half scoring the final five points of the period on a three-point field goal from Taylor Keegan, and a jumper from Keshia Butler, trimming the Quaker lead to four.

Abboud led the Scots posting a career high with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc in just 11 minutes of action. Wenz chipped in with 11 points, four rebounds and three assists, while Wilson ended up with eight markers, including two three-pointers, moving her to within three of the Wooster career record for threes made in a career. Also of note, Butler and Keegan both collected career-bests on the boards with nine and eight, respectively, while Kaitlin Krister added four points and a team-high 10 caroms.

Leading the offensive charge for the Quakers was Darrett, who posted game-highs with 17 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, while Katy Buda finished with 15 points. Also winding up in double digits was Tasha Merrill who chipped in with 10 points, and Tracy Hill had six points, eight rebounds and three steals.