WOOSTER, Ohio – Kym Wenz became The College of Wooster women's basketball team's all-time 3-point leader, and the Fighting Scots stormed back from a 12-point second half deficit to take a late one-point lead, but Kenyon College spoiled the comeback and Wenz's special day by pulling out a 53-50 victory Saturday night at Timken Gymnasium.
Wenz's record-breaking 3-ball was actually the shot which sparked Wooster's late run, as she connected on a Priscilla Staples assist with 9:06 remaining in the game to draw the Scots (4-10, 1-4 NCAC) within 35-40. The Ladies (10-3, 3-1 NCAC) used a Kat Powers 3-pointer and a Morgan Korinek lay up to regain a 10-point lead (45-35), but Wenz drained three more shots from behind the arc over the next two minutes to inch Wooster within one (46-47), the closest they had been to Kenyon the entire night.
Kenyon turned the ball over on its next possession, and Jessica Wingen splashed a deep two-pointer on a dish by Keshia Butler that gave Wooster its first lead of the game (48-47) with 3:45 on the clock. Kathleen Williams split two sets of foul shots over the next minute of action to put Kenyon back on top (49-48), but back-to-back makes at the free throw stripe from Kaitlin Krister gave the Scots another one-point advantage (50-49) with 2:15 remaining in the game.
Moments later, Laurel Stokes connected with Korinek under the hoop for a go-ahead lay up (50-51), and consecutive free throw makes by Katie Adlam pushed Kenyon's lead to 53-50 with 11 seconds to go. The Scots called a timeout, and then ran a play that allowed Wenz to fire an off balance 3-pointer at the buzzer, but the shot didn't fall allowing Kenyon to notch the victory in North Coast Athletic Conference action.
Wenz connected on her 131st career 3-pointer early in the second half, which tied the six-year old school record held by Lindsey Schaaff (2000-04). She then went on to hit four more 3-balls in the game, bringing her career total to 135, and placing her alone atop the all-time list. Wenz scored a game-high 19 points, with 17 coming during the second half where Wooster outscored Kenyon 34-24.
Wooster appeared to be in trouble in the early goings, as Kenyon raced out to a 15-4 lead, and took a 13-point cushion (29-16) into the break. The Scots then looked like a new team in the second half, as they bullied the Ladies 18-10 in the rebounding battle and held them to 26.9 percent shooting which included a 1-of-10 clip behind the arc.
Kristen Schwartz followed up her career-high 13-point game last night with an encore, as the sophomore racked up 10 points and seven boards in her 22 minutes on the court. Krister chipped in with nine points and three blocked shots, and Taylor Keegan rounded out the leaders by tallying seven points.
Kenyon saw three players hit double-digits in scoring, as Powers led the way with 11, and Korinek and Williams each poured in 10, to go along with nine and eight rebounds, respectively.
The Scots will stay at home to host Hiram College (1-10, 0-2 NCAC) on Wednesday at 7:30.