The College of Wooster watched as home-standing Lake Erie College surged out to an early 12-0 lead, and could not recover as the hosts overwhelmed the Fighting Scots 68-43 Wednesday evening during non-conference action in Painesville.

The Scots (5-10) were able to cut the Lake Erie lead to nine (14-5) on a lay-up by Keshia Butler at the 12:48 mark in the first period, but Lake Erie went on to close the frame by outscoring the Scots 28-11, and took a 25-point lead at the half (41-16).

The Fighting Scots cut the lead to 20 (43-23) on a pair of free throws by Kaitlin Krister with 16:15 left. However, the Storm (6-14) pushed their lead to 28 (53-25) capped off on a Stephanie Rogers lay-up with 11:40 left in regulation, and the visitors were never able to get any closer.

The story of the game very well could have been Lake Erie's defense, which forced the Scots into 25 turnovers, resulting in 28 points and chalked up 14 steals, while only turning the ball over 12 times.

For the game, Wooster finished 16-of-49 from the floor (32.7 percent) and was ice cold from three-point range, connecting on only 2-of-11 attempts (18.2 percent), while Lake Erie ended the game shooting a 39.1 clip from the floor (27-of-69) and made good on 7-of-21 shots from beyond the arc. However, the Scots out-muscled the Storm on the boards, grabbing 41 rebounds, while Lake Erie collected 38.

Leading the Scots was Butler, who poured in eight points, while Kinsey Walker and Samantha Justice chipped in with six points apiece, and the latter adding a team-best eight rebounds.

A trio of players paced Lake Erie, with Rogers leading the way with a game-high 18 points and nine rebounds, while Renese Ames and Jen Caiola added 17 and 15 points, respectively.

The Scots return to action on Saturday, when they travel to North Coast Athletic Conference foe Earlham College (1-15, 0-8 NCAC) in the first game of a doubleheader with the two schools' men's teams to follow. Tip-off for the women's game is slated for 1:00 p.m.