Scots Snap Four-Game Skid with 56-48 Win Over Kenyon

WOOSTER, Ohio - The College of Wooster Fighting Scots ended a four-game losing streak by defeating the Kenyon College Ladies 56-48 inside the confines of Timken Gymnasium. The Scots reach .500 on the season in North Coast Athletic Conference play at 2-2, and improve to 4-7 overall, while Kenyon drops to 3-9 and 2-2 in the NCAC.

The two teams battled in the first half. Kenyon scored on the game's opening possession via a lay-up by Kathleen Williams. However, Wooster responded by racing out to a 10-point advantage at 16-6 capped off by a fair of charity tosses from Kaitlin Krister with 7:59 left in the first half. The two teams traded buckets over the next few minutes before Krister tallied her ninth and tenth points of the opening stanza on a jumper, giving Wooster its largest lead of the game (24-13) with 1:49 left. Kenyon came back with the final four points of the half and cut the margin to seven (24-17) headed into the break.

Kenyon opened the second half with a 13-4 run over the first 5:24, cutting the Scots lead to just one (31-30). Wooster answered with a quick 6-0 spurt on six points from Kym Wenz, pushing the lead to seven (37-30), but the Ladies countered with their own 7-0 run and tied the contest (37-37) with 10:22 remaining.

The Scots pushed the lead back out to four on a jumper by Meredith Wilson and a pair of free throws from Samantha Justice, but the visitors answered right back with a 5-0 run and took their only lead of the second half at 42-41 with 7:29 left.

From that point on, Wooster clamped down on the defensive end, allowing the Ladies to score just six points, limiting the visitors to 1-of-6 from the field, and forcing them into four turnovers down the stretch. 

Wenz led the way with 21 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the field and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe, including four makes in the final :29, and added six rebounds, six assists, and three steals. Krister produced another solid performance on the Wooster interior, notching 16 points, grabbing six rebounds to go along with three blocks and two steals.

Justice racked up a big all-around performance for the hosts, nailing 3-of-6 shots as part of her career night. She posted career-bests in points with 10 and steals with three, along with tying her career marks with five rebounds, including four offensive caroms, and three assists.

Kat Powers paced Kenyon with 17 points to go along with three helpers.  Additionally, Williams posted nine points, and Melissa Hart scored four points and corralled a team-best five rebounds in the loss.

The Scots will try to make it two in row when they step out of conference play and travel to Pepper Pike, Ohio, on Saturday for a match-up with the Ursuline College Arrows (6-7). The start of the game is slated for 7 p.m.