Suvi Puripattarapan

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster women's basketball team stormed back from a 19-point half time deficit to pull within four points midway through the second half, but Ohio Wesleyan University held on down the stretch to defeat the Fighting Scots 66-57 Wednesday evening in a North Coast Athletic Conference match-up at Timken Gymnasium.

Trailing 50-38 with 12:08 remaining in the game, the Scots (3-14, 2-7 NCAC) put together an exciting scoring run that almost drew them even with the Battling Bishops (7-11, 3-6 NCAC). It started when Maura Hall beat her defender with a behind the back dribble and then converted an old-fashioned three-point play which made it 50-41.

Ohio Wesleyan missed its next shot attempt, and Karley Walker hit a 3-pointer in transition on an assist from Ashley Lindemann that pulled the Scots within six points. Then, following another missed shot from the Bishops, Walker pump faked her defender to get free and then buried a deep jumper from the baseline to cut the deficit to 50-46 with less than nine minutes to go.

From that point on, Ohio Wesleyan steadily pulled away, and eventually led by as much as 14 (65-51), until the Scots reduced the final margin to nine (66-57), thanks in large part to a late Sarah Abboud 3-ball.

Wooster outrebounded Ohio Wesleyan 42-29, but the Bishops, who came into the game shooting just 28.2 percent from behind the arc, were 10-for-22 (45.5 percent) in this contest. Also noteworthy, the Bishops dished out 18 assists, while the Scots totaled just six.

On the stat sheet, Suvi Puripattarapan racked up a career-high 20 points, which included an impressive 11-of-12 effort at the charity stripe. She also totaled six rebounds, three steals, and two assists in 33 minutes off of the bench.

Jessica Wingen just missed a double-double with 11 points and eight boards, and also recorded five blocked shots. Samantha Sulzer (8 points, 9 rebounds) and Walker (7 points, 3 steals) were also key contributors in the setback.

For Ohio Wesleyan, Sarah McQuade scored 16 points to go along with eight assists, while Tamra Londot shared team scoring honors with 16 tallies of her own.

The Scots will have a rare weekend off, but will be back on the court next Tuesday for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off at Denison University.