Allegheny Tops Wooster 68-55 in NCAC Opener

The College of Wooster women's basketball team had four players score in double figures in its first North Coast Athletic Conference game this season, but the Fighting Scots were unable to overcome an early double-digit deficit and Allegheny College cruised to a 68-55 win on Wednesday night at Meadville, Pa.

For the third-consecutive game the Scots (1-4, 0-1 NCAC) trailed by double-digits in the first half, this time getting behind 12-2 just over five minutes into the action. Wooster then raced back to get within three when Jessica Wingen scored five of her career-high 12 points over a two-minute span as part of a 7-0 run.

That was as close as the Scots got to matching the Gators (4-3, 1-0 NCAC) until Wooster recovered from another 10-point deficit to draw within one (31-30) when Taylor Keegan knocked down a 3-pointer with 1:19 remaining in the first half. Allegheny then made four-consecutive free throw shots to increase its lead to 35-30 heading into the break.

Kym Wenz opened the second half by scoring on back-to-back shots in the paint to once again cut the Allegheny lead to one (35-34), but then the Gators went on a 7-0 run and never looked back. The Scots wouldn't trim the Allegheny lead to less than seven points over the remainder of the game, and the Gators led by at least 10 points over the final five minutes of the contest.

Wooster held a slight edge in field goal percentage (40.7 to 39.7) and had its bench outscore Allegheny's 17-10, but it was the Gators free throw shooting (15-of-20) and 18 points off turnovers that were the story in this conference tilt.

Along with Wingen's 12 points, Wenz tallied a team-high 17, and Kaitlin Krister (11) and Samantha Justice (10) also contributed double-digits in the setback. Allegheny's Jill Gregory dropped a game-high 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting, including two 3-pointers and six assists.

The Scots will return home to continue conference play when they host arch-rival Wittenberg University (1-3) on Saturday at 2 p.m.