Wooster Falls to Houghton 54-50 in Closely-Contested Tilt

The College of Wooster women's basketball team dropped a very closely-contested game that went down to the wire Saturday afternoon, as Houghton College edged out the Fighting Scots 54-50 during the Geneva Tournament at Beaver Falls, Pa.

For the entire second half the score was within one or two possessions, as neither team led by more than four points at any time. The Scots (6-5) went 18-for-23 (78.3 percent) from the free throw line in the contest, and scored exclusively at the charity strip during an 8-2 scoring run that gave them a 50-47 lead after a pair from Lauren Hancher.

Houghton (6-3) tied the game up at 50-50 with 1:27 left in regulation, and from that moment on, the Scots turned the ball over twice and shot 0-for-3 from the field, which allowed the Highlanders to sneak past with a 54-50 victory.

Wooster trailed by single digits for much of the first half, but Maura Hall got to the rim on a pass from Rachel Huxhold that drew the Scots within two (28-26) with about two minutes remaining in the half.  After a series of missed shots from both teams, Sydney Grier buried a 3-pointer to give Wooster a 29-28 lead, and then she hit another 3-ball just seven seconds before the halftime buzzer that put the Scots ahead 32-30 at the break.

The Scots led for a few possessions to start the second half, but Houghton regained the advantage and held it until Jessica Wingen tied the game at 45-45, and eventually gave Wooster a 48-45 lead with five made free throws over a 2:13 span.

After shooting a season-high .451 from the field in yesterday's game, the Scots shot a season-low .250 (13-for-52) today, although defensively, they did limit Houghton to just .277 shooting (18-for-65).

Four Wooster players reached double-figures in the scoring department, highlighted by Hall who recorded her third double-double of the season with 11 tallies and 10 boards. Karley Walker also had 11 points, which included three 3-pointers, while Wingen and Hancher added 10 points each.

Wooster will return to North Coast Athletic Conference action Wednesday when it hosts Kenyon College at 7:30 p.m.