Posted: Dec 30, 2015
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| Hannah Kiser |
The College of Wooster women's basketball team's buzzer-beat hit the rim and fell off as Mount Saint Joseph University held on for a 56-55 win in non-conference action at the Harrington Center in Cincinnati, Ohio on Wednesday afternoon.
On the previous possession, Mount St. Joseph's (2-8) Lainee Studer made what held up to be the game-winner with :04 remaining. The scrappy Lions had two key rebounds in the final 30 seconds, the first by Erica Walsh, and the second by Studer to maintain possession.
Wooster (5-6) had a good look as junior Rachel Collins saw her eight-foot floater bounce off of the back of the rim. Junior Sydney Failing secured the ensuring offensive rebounds, with her shot attempt waved off at the buzzer.
The Scots had regained the lead at 55-54 after sophomore Hannah Kiser sank a pair of free throws with 1:12 remaining.
Of note, senior Lauren Hancher, a Cincinnati native, recorded her first career double-double, with a game-high 18 points, and a career-best 11 rebounds.
The back-and-forth contest, that featured 14 lead changes and 12 ties, really turned into a seesaw contest in the fourth period.
Wooster's four-point lead at the period's onset quickly vanished as Mount St. Joseph clawed out a 7-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Meredith Hartfield, putting the Lions up 49-48 with 6:01 remaining in the contest.
From there, Wooster sliced off a 4-0 run of its own with a layup from Hancher that was followed by a pair of free throws from first-year Anna Gibbs to give the Scots' a 50-49 lead.
Junior Danielle Besancon drilled a 3-pointer with 1:43 remaining, to push Wooster back out in front 53-51. Mount St. Joseph came right back less than 20 seconds later with Taylor Brown penetrating into the paint for a layup, and sinking the ensuing free throw after a Wooster foul, putting the Lions back up 54-53.
Wooster continued its recent trend of a strong third period, as the Scots rattled off 25 points in the frame. Late in the stanza, Wooster utilized a 7-1 stretch to open up an eight-point lead at 44-36. Key to the run was three free throws from Gibbs.
The Scots took their first lead of the contest with 1:25 remaining in the opening period after a jumper from sophomore Aki Shurelds made the score 10-8. Wooster led by as many as four in the second period after a layup from junior Paige Fabry pushed the Scot's lead to 16-12 with 5:45 left in the half.
Gibbs would finish with a balanced stat-line on the afternoon with eight points, six assists, and five rebounds.
Mount St. Joseph was led by Studer's double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Wooster returns to conference play with a 2 p.m. home tilt against Denison University (9-3, 2-1 North Coast Athletic Conference) on Sunday, Jan. 3. Wooster enters 2016 with a 1-1 mark in conference play.