Trailing by as much as 13 points in the first half, The College of Wooster women's basketball team took its first lead following a 13-5 run to open the second stanza, and hung on during a back and forth finish to top North Coast Athletic Conference foe Earlham College 72-69 in its final game of the regular season.
With the win, and an Allegheny College (10-15, 7-8 NCAC) loss Saturday evening, the Fighting Scots (11-14, 8-8 NCAC) have locked up the No. 5 seed in the NCAC Tournament, and will visit No. 4 Kenyon College (16-6, 9-7 NCAC) on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. in quarterfinal action.
Earlham's Nikki Darrett and Woooter's Kym Wenz traded 3-pointers to start the action, but then the Quakers went on a 10-2 run to take an early 13-5 lead. The Scots drew within two on several occasions in the first half, including on a Taylor Keegan jumper that made it 16-18, and a Kaitlin Krister lay up that made it 20-22 with 5:54 to go before the break.
The Quakers then rattled off 11 unanswered points, culminating in an old fashion three-point play by Whitney Sparkman, that gave Earlham a 33-20 cushion. Samantha Justice and Wenz scored the last four points of the half to bring Wooster within eight (29-37).
Krister found a wide open Kaitlin Schwartz under the hoop to open the second period, and the Krister-to-Schwartz connection was good again on the ensuing possession to cut the deficit to four (33-37). Jessica Wingen scored moments later on a Keegan dish, and then Wenz got to the hoop on a Justice assist to tie the game 42-42 with 13:26 to play.
Wenz scored on Wooster's next turn down the court to put the Scots ahead 44-42, its first lead of the contest, and then a 20-9 Wooster run created its own 13-point (64-51) advantage with 6:45 remaining in regulation.
It was Earlham's turn to make another big run, as they strung together a 17-4 run over the next five minutes of action, culminating in a Charvonne Long lay up, that tied the game 68-68. Following a Quaker free throw make, Krister drained two of her own attempts to give Wooster a 70-69 lead. Then Schwartz sealed the win with a clutch steal with 30 seconds to go, and the Scots added two more baskets from the charity stripe to hold on 72-69.
Wenz finished with a game-high 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting, which included four 3-pointers, while Krister racked up 18 points and 12 boards. Krister also added four blocks, giving her 10 blocked shots in her last two games, and moving her into third on the all-time single-season list with 59.
Keegan chipped in with 12 points and four assists, while Justice added eight points and dished out three helpers in the win.
The Quakers had three players reach double-digits in scoring, with Michelle Miranda's 12 points leading the way. Darrett was also active, totaling 11 points, five rebounds, and five assists.