Wingen’s Career-High 26 Not Enough in Setback to Denison

WOOSTER, Ohio – Jessica Wingen played one of the best games of her career Tuesday evening, scoring a career-high 26 points to go along with 12 rebounds and four blocked shots, but Denison University erased an early 11-point deficit to drop The College of Wooster 67-56 in a highly-competitive North Coast Athletic Conference tilt at Timken Gymnasium.

The Big Red (12-8, 7-4 NCAC) didn't have an answer for Wingen, especially in the first half, when the senior scored 18 of Wooster's 24 points on 9-for-13 shooting from the field. The Scots (6-13, 1-9) also gave a strong defensive effort, limiting Denison to just 15.6 percent shooting (5-of-32), which helped them own a 24-19 advantage at the break.

Lauren Hancher opened up the second half with a jumper that pushed Wooster's lead to seven (26-19), but Denison eventually tied the game at 30-30, and then went up 34-30 moments later. The Scots next three baskets were 3-pointers, though, as Rachel Huxhold, Sydney Grier, and Suvi Puripattarapan each scored from behind the arc during a back-and-forth stretch that pulled Wooster within one (40-39) about midway through the half.

Not too long after that, Wingen went to the bench due to foul trouble, and the Big Red took advantage with a 9-2 scoring run that put them ahead 49-41. The Scots stopped the run with another Grier 3-ball, and later Wingen and Maura Hall each scored in the paint to make it a three-point game (51-48) with 6:09 to play.

That was as close as Wooster got, though, as Denison got to the free throw line in the final minutes to turn a closely-contested game into a double-digit setback for the Scots.

Wooster led by as much as 11 (22-11) in the first half.

Wingen's 26 points came on 12-of-19 shooting. Her previous career-high was 22 points, which she did twice, including the season opener this year.

For the first time this season, Karley Walker was held without a basket, but she had an excellent night as a distributor with a career-high nine assists. Hall scored 11 points, including seven free throws, and pulled down eight boards, and Grier chipped in eight tallies.

Denison was led by Serafina Nuzzo's 14 points, with nine coming in the second half.

The Scots will look to get back into the win column when they host Oberlin College (8-12, 3-8 NCAC) on Friday evening at 7:30 p.m.