Big Third Period Pulls Case Western Reserve Past Wooster

The College of Wooster women's basketball team was one possession behind at the half, but a 25-point third period from host Case Western Reserve University pushed the Spartans to a 73-58 win on Wednesday evening at Horsburgh Gymnasium in Cleveland.

Senior Lauren Hancher, who scored a team-best 16 points on the night, had a strong start to the contest with eight first period points on 4-of-7 shooting in the stanza. The effort helped keep Wooster (4-2) close as Case Western Reserve (2-5) held a slim 17-12 lead after 10 minutes of action.

Wooster pulled within one at 29-28 with 3:08 remaining in the second period after a 7-0 run. Sophomore Aki Shurelds sparked the stretch with a 3-pointer that was followed by a jumper from first-year Shar Hankerson and two free throws from first-year Anna Gibbs.

Case Western Reserve answered right back with a 6-0 run to carve out a 35-28 lead with 1:46 remaining. Gibbs countered with six straight points to trim the Spartans' lead back to one at 35-34 with :38 left in the frame. The Spartans pushed the lead to 36-34 on Kara Hageman's free throw with :02 remaining in the half.

Case Western Reserve pulled away in the third period, first with a 7-0 run, and later on a pair of 6-0 runs, the latter of which pushed the Spartans' lead to double-figures for good. Wooster countered the 7-0 run with five straight points of its own after a jumper from Hancher, and a 3-pointer from senior Sydney Grier, making the score 47-43 with 5:34 remaining in the third, the closest the Scots came over the final 16 minutes of play.

Also of note, junior Danielle Besancon connected on a pair of fourth period 3-pointers. Overall as a unit, Wooster's bench contributed 20 points.

Gibbs finished with 12 points on the night to join Hancher in double figures. The duo each collected six rebounds in the contest.

Hageman led all scorers with 24 points, and added a double-double for the hosts with 14 rebounds.

Wooster faces a tough challenger on Saturday as the Scots open North Coast Athletic Conference play against DePauw University (4-2) in a 1 p.m. tilt at Timken Gymnasium. The Tigers won the NCAC regular-season title last year, and are currently ranked 24th in the USA TODAY Sports Division III Top 25 women's basketball poll, voted on by members of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.