The College of Wooster women's basketball team rebounded from a rough start, and an 11-point deficit, to limit Kenyon College to just 19 second half points and push them to the brink, but the Ladies held off the Fighting Scots late surge to notch a 48-47 win Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament at Gambier, Ohio.
The Scots (11-15, 8-8 NCAC) trailed the Ladies (17-9, 8-7 NCAC) the entire contest, and were down six (42-48) with 1:58 remaining in the game, when they put together a late comeback attempt. Kym Wenz buried a deep 3-pointer on a Colleen Goodwillie assist to draw Wooster within three (45-48), and then after a Kenyon miss, Goodwillie pulled down a defensive rebound allowing the Scots to call a timeout with 1:06 to go.
On the ensuing possession, Goodwillie again located the open Scot, this time dishing to Jessica Wingen for a jumper that brought Wooster within one (47-48). Wingen then came up with a critical blocked shot on the other end, and Goodwillie grabbed the rebound, as Wooster again took a timeout, this time with 7.0 seconds on the clock. The Scots then got off a last second shot attempt, but it wouldn't fall, and Kenyon held on to record the narrow win and advance in the NCAC Tournament.
The Scots were blitzed in the opening minutes of the game, as the Ladies came up with three steals and forced Wooster into 0-of-3 shooting while building a 6-0 lead. Wingen and Kym Wenz scored baskets in the paint to draw Wooster within 4-8, but Kenyon scored the next seven points to give them an 11-point lead (15-4) just over eight minutes into the action.
Wooster went on to outscore Kenyon over the remaining 11 minutes of the first half, narrowing the deficit to as little as four on three occasions. Wenz drained two 3-pointers, both on Samantha Justice assists, and Goodwillie hit her own 3-ball on a Justice dish with 3:08 on the clock that made it 22-26.
The Ladies led 29-22 in the final seconds of the opening stanza, but Taylor Keegan found Kaitlin Krister cutting under the hoop for a lay up that cut the Kenyon advantage to five (29-24) at the half.
Keshia Butler sparked the Scots attack early in the second, as she dished an assist to Krister and scored on her own jumper in the opening minutes, but Kenyon withstood the Wooster buckets and steadily began to pull away. Kat Powers drained a shot, and then knocked down a pair of free throws on her next trip down the court to give the Ladies their second 11-point cushion (39-28) of the contest.
Both teams would go without scoring over the next three minutes of action, but Wingen broke the scoreless stretch with a basket in the paint, which started a 7-0 Wooster run, bringing the Scots within four (35-39) with 7:75 remaining in the game. Powers then knocked down a 3-pointer to extend Kenyon's lead to seven, but Goodwillie answered back on the ensuing possession with her own 3-ball to keep Wooster in striking distance.
Wooster shot a solid 19-of-42 (45.2 percent) from the field, and outrebounded Kenyon 34-28 on the night, but the Scots struggled through a 4-of-11 (36.4 percent) effort at the free throw line, while the Ladies went 14-of-20 (70.0 percent), which arguably decided the outcome.
Wenz led all scorers with 17 points, which included three baskets from behind the arc, while Wingen added 10 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Goodwillie chipped in eight points, three rebounds, and three assists, while Krister and Kristen Schwartz both pulled down a team-high seven boards.
Laurel Stokes paced Kenyon with 13 points and seven rebounds, while Powers added 12 points and three assists in the win.