Jessica Wingen

The College of Wooster played a closely-contested first half, and trailed by just three points in the early moments of the second, but Wittenberg University used an 11-0 scoring run to construct a double-digit cushion and then steadily pulled away in a 72-45 victory Saturday afternoon at Springfield, Ohio.

The Scots (3-19, 2-12 NCAC) took a quick 4-0 lead after lay-ups by Maura Hall and Samantha Sulzer, and then continued to stay ahead of their North Coast Athletic Conference archrival for several minutes. After Jessica Wingen sunk back-to-back baskets to make it 10-7, Wittenberg went on a quick 6-0 run to take a slight 13-10 advantage.

Ashley Lindemann responded with a jumper to pull Wooster within one (13-12), and later, a Sarah Abboud free throw again made it a one-point game (16-15), but the Scots weren't able to recapture the lead. At the end of the first half, the Tigers led by as much as seven, but Sulzer came up with a steal and then drove to the basket for a lay-in that cut the deficit to 24-19 at the break.

To start the second half, Wingen scored two points from the charity stripe to draw the Scots within three (24-21). It was at that point that Wittenberg aggressively began to pull away, as they outscored Wooster 40-18 in the period, which included an 11-0 scoring run that turned a slight 36-31 lead into a decisive 47-31 padding it used to coast to victory.

Both teams struggled from 3-point range, as Wooster was 1-of-8 and Wittenberg was 3-of-12. The Scots recorded a solid .444 (12-of-27) field goal percentage in the first half, but followed that up with just a 4-of-28 (.143) effort in the second half.

Wingen led Wooster statistically with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Hall recorded eight points, eight rebounds, and four assists.

Wittenberg got a spark from Enri Small, who scored a game-high 16 points in just 17 minutes off of the bench.

The Scots will look a wrap up the season on a high-note with home games against Allegheny College (Wednesday) and DePauw University (Saturday) this week.