Samantha Sulzer

WOOSTER, Ohio – Samantha Sulzer recorded her second career double-double, and Jessica Wingen tied a school record with eight blocked shots, but The College of Wooster women's basketball team came up short 53-50 against Bluffton University on Tuesday evening at Timken Gymnasium.

Despite trailing by 10 points with 0:28 seconds on the clock, the Fighting Scots (1-5) managed to give the Beavers (2-4) a scare, as Suvi Puripattarapan slashed to the hoop with a driving lay-up on the right side that drew Wooster within eight (53-45).

The Scots then quickly fouled, but the Beavers missed both free throws, allowing Sarah Abboud to find Wingen under the basket in transition for an old-fashioned three-point play which made it 53-48 with eight seconds remaining on the clock.

Wooster followed that basket up with another foul, which again resulted in two missed free throws, and Karley Walker drained a jumper on the other end as time expired for the final margin (53-50).

The game was tied 20-20 with 1:06 to go in the first half, but Bluffton got a lay-up from Alicia Amis and a 3-pointer from Brittany Lewis to take a 25-20 advantage going into the break. The Scots kept themselves within two possessions until midway into the second stanza when the Beavers built a 12-point cushion (47-35). From that moment on, Wooster outscored Bluffton 15-6 to close out the game.

Sulzer tied a career-high with 14 points and added 11 rebounds. Her only other double-double came against Bluffton last season (Dec. 18), where she posted a 10-10 stat line.

Also noteworthy, Wingen, who led the North Coast Athletic Conference in blocked shots a year ago, tied a program record with eight blocks (Kristen Rice, 2002). She also chipped in nine points and nine rebounds, leaving her just a few tallies shy of a triple-double.

Rounding out the stat sheet were Puripattarapan with 11 points and four steals, and Walker, who scored all nine of her points in the second half.

Bluffton was paced by Sharonda Martin's 10 points and five rebounds in just 14 minutes off of the bench.

Wooster will look to get back into the win column Saturday afternoon when they visit northeast Ohio foe Case Western Reserve University at 2 p.m.