WOOSTER, Ohio – Fueled by an historic 35-0 run to start the game, The College of Wooster women's basketball team overwhelmed Franciscan University of Steubenville on Saturday in an 80-38 rout during the opening round of the Nan Nichols Classic at Timken Gymnasium.
The Fighting Scots (1-1) got out to a double-digit lead in less than two minutes, and then pushed the score to 20-0 just over nine minutes into the contest. The lead continued to grow to a staggering 35-0 before the Barons (0-2) connected on their first field goal of the game with 4:27 remaining in the first half that ended the scoring drought. Wooster led 42-5 at the break, and cruised on to record one of the program's largest victory margins of this decade.
Kym Wenz went on an incredible shooting spree to open the game, going 4-of-4 from behind the arc, that culminated with a 3-ball that put the Scots ahead 14-0 just 2:23 into the action. Wooster then continued its onslaught with a more balanced approach, as eight Scots got on the scoreboard and contributed a steal in the opening half. The Barons ball handlers were routinely swarmed and committed 17 turnovers during the Scots remarkable 35-point run.
The game was more competitive after the break as Wooster rested its regulars and the Barons scored 33 points on 40 percent shooting from the field, after shooting a dismal 8.3 percent in the first half.
Wenz dropped a game-high 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting and added four steals, despite playing just 13 minutes. Also filling up the stat sheet was Samantha Sulzer, who set new career-highs in points (11), rebounds (8), and steals (5) while making just her second-career start. Sarah Abboud hit double-digits as well, scoring 10 points, and Jessica Wingen added nine points on 4-of-6 shooting.
Wooster shot 50 percent (30-of-60) from the field and had 11 players score at least one basket. The team totaled 16 steals on the defensive end, a clip they have not seen since a 17-steal outing at Lake Erie College on Jan. 8, 2007.
With the win, the Scots will host Mt. Union College (2-0) on Sunday in the championship game of the Nan Nichols Classic at 3 p.m. Notre Dame College (1-1), who lost to the Purple Raiders 74-83 earlier on Saturday, will tangle with Franciscan in consolation action at 1 p.m.