Lauren Hancher

College of Wooster junior Lauren Hancher broke a 17-year-old program record on Wednesday evening, as she scored 40 points in the Fighting Scots' 81-66 setback to Hiram College.

Hancher passes W Association Hall of Famer Katie Montague, who totaled 38 points against Kenyon College during the 1997-98 season.

Already with 28- and 30-point efforts over the past two weeks, Hancher took her game to yet another level, as she became just the 10th player in NCAA Div. III to join the 40-point club this season. She did it by scoring exactly 20 points in each half, on 15-of-24 shooting from the field and 10-for-11 at the free throw line.

In addition to the scoring outburst, Hancher added career-highs in assists (4) and steals (5), and pulled down five rebounds in an all-time great individual performance.

After a back-and-forth first half, the Scots (1-18, 0-10 NCAC) built the biggest lead of the game to that point at 35-29, but the Terriers (5-14, 1-9 NCAC) closed the gap to pull within one (35-34) at the break.

Hiram used an 11-4 scoring run to start the second half to take a 45-39 advantage, but two free throw makes from Hancher cut Wooster's deficit to four (45-41) with about 15 minutes remaining in the contest.

It was at that juncture the Terriers strung together a game-changing 18-4 scoring run that put them ahead 63-45 and all but sealed the outcome.

The Scots produced one last surge, a 12-3 scoring run, highlighted by two 3-pointers from Rachel Collins, which drew them within 11 at 68-57, but Hiram hung on to notch the victory in North Coast Athletic Conference action.

It was a noteworthy night for another Scot as well, as Paige Fabry totaled career-highs in points (10) and rebounds (12) for her first-ever double-double.

Wooster won the rebounding battle (37-36) and had double-digit steals (10) for just the third time this season, but it didn't get any scoring from its bench, while Hiram countered with 39 points in that category.

Leading Hiram was Kayla Yost, who neared a triple-double with 17 points, eight rebounds, and seven steals.

Next up, Wooster will look to avenge its narrow 69-64 loss to Ohio Wesleyan University (9-10, 5-5 NCAC) from earlier this season, when it travels to Delaware, Ohio next Wednesday for a 6 p.m. tip.