Wingen's 19 Rebounds Not Enough in Setback to Allegheny

Jessica Wingen pulled down a career-high 19 rebounds as part of her 11th double-double of the season, but Allegheny College's bench outscored The College of Wooster's 18-5, which was a key to the Gators' 67-57 victory over the Fighting Scots on Wednesday evening in a North Coast Athletic Conference game at Meadville, Pa.

Wooster (9-15, 4-11 NCAC) jumped out to a seven-point advantage, 11-4, in the early goings, but the lead changed hands seven more times in the first half, and Allegheny (14-10, 9-6 NCAC) went into the break ahead by a 27-23 margin.

The Gators recorded the first bucket of the second half to extend their lead to six, until Maura Hall scored on a lay-up and Karley Walker drained a 3-pointer to pull the Scots within one at 29-28.

Daryl Ford scored two of her game-high 19 points on Allegheny's next possession to increase its lead to three (31-28), but Rachel Huxhold responded with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 31-31.

The teams traded baskets after that, and then Lauren Hancher got to the free throw line, where she made both shots to give Wooster its first lead (35-34) of the half.

The Scots' were only ahead for 10 seconds before Ford answered with a jumper, and then after a missed shot for Wooster, Allegheny sunk a 3-pointer in transition to go up 39-35. Wooster kept it a two-possession game until there was about eight minutes remaining in regulation, when the Gators created a little more breathing room and pulled away to victory.

Along with Ford's 19, Ann Ryan chipped in 18, and the Gators' bench combined for 18 points.

For the Scots, Walker scored a team-high 16 points and went 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, while Hancher (14) and Wingen (13) also reached double-digits. Wingen also corralled 19 rebounds, which was a career-high, and the most by a Wooster player since LeAnn Uhinch pulled down 21 against Kenyon College during the 1998-99 season.

The Scots will wrap up the regular season by visiting the top-ranked team in NCAA Div. III, DePauw University (24-0, 15-0 NCAC), Saturday at 1 p.m.