Wooster Uses 13 3-Pointers to Overwhelm Franciscan 82-63

The College of Wooster made 13 3-pointers, its second-most in program history, as Sydney Grier (5), Rachel Collins (3), Suvi Puripattarapan (3), and others led a long-range attack that propelled the Fighting Scots to an 82-63 win over Franciscan University of Steubenville on Saturday afternoon at Steubenville, Ohio.

The Scots (4-0) have now scored at least 81 points in each of their first four games this season, all resulting in double-digit victories. Their highest point total in a game last season was 70.

Wooster was ahead by six at intermission (41-35), and pushed the advantage to double-digits shortly after the break, but it simply put the game out of reach during a 5:21-stretch midway through the second half. The Scots turned their 14-point lead (53-39) into an insurmountable 28-point cushion (69-41) with a 16-2 scoring run that included 3-pointers from Collins and Lindy Howard.

Danielle Bescanson got in on the action late, as she scored Wooster's last three points of the game with her first-career 3-pointer, to cap off the Scots' 13-of-32 effort (.406) from behind the arc.

Only Wooster's 16 3-pointers against Kalamazoo College in 2007 rank above today's performance.

The Scots raced ahead 8-0 to start the game, and then led for nearly the entire half, until Franciscan (0-3) knotted the score at 28-28 with 4:48 to go in the stanza. Collins scored Wooster's final six points of the half, coming on a pair of 3-pointers, to give the Scots their 41-35 edge at the game's midway point.

Grier paced Wooster with 17 points, a new career-high, just three days after after she had a career-best 15 points against Geneva College. For the second-straight game she hit five 3-pointers.

Right behind her was Lauren Hancher, who did all of her work on the inside, where she shot 7-of-11 from the field for 15 points and eight rebounds. Collins reached double-figures for the third time in four games, this time with 15 points and seven boards, while Puripattarapan added nine points, coming on a set of 3-pointers.

Franciscan's notables include Iliana Gonzales with 21 points and Lacey Huck with 14 rebounds.

Wooster will be looking for its fifth win in a row when it hosts Bluffton University (2-1) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.