Stifling First-Half Defense Pushes Yeowomen Over Scots

WOOSTER, Ohio – Stifling first-half defense and an efficient shooting effort led the Yeowomen of Oberlin College to a 62-41 victory over The College of Wooster women's basketball team on Wednesday evening at Timken Gymnasium as part of National Girls and Women in Sports Day.

Oberlin (9-12, 6-6 North Coast Athletic Conference) shot 48.3 percent from the floor in the opening half while holding the Fighting Scots (1-19, 0-11 NCAC) to five points in the first period and six in the second.

The Yeowomen opened on a 7-0 run over the initial 3:48 behind a pair of buckets from Abby Andrews and a game-opening 3-pointer from Alex Stipano, who finished with a game-high 13 points on 12 shots.

Wooster sophomore Anna Gibbs, who came in averaging 13.9 points, stopped the run with two made foul shots to draw Wooster back within five at the 4:12 mark, but a 9-3 period-closing run gave the Yeowomen to a double-digit advantage (16-5) at the period's close.

Of note, Wooster forced six Oberlin turnovers while committing none, as the Yeowomen pounded the paint, winning the early advantage in points in the lane, 10-2.

The second period saw much of the same suffocating defense from Oberlin, as they opened on a 12-2 run as part of a larger 16-6 run overall, with eight different Yeowomen contributing to the scoreline. First-year Courtney Lockhart and sophomore Christina Vukovich held up Wooster's scoring effort in the second period with two and four points, respectively, as Wooster trailed 32-11 heading into halftime.

The second half witnessed the Scots shooting 35.5 percent from the floor, including 3-of-9 from three-point range, as both teams battled through an evenly-held final 20 minutes.

In the third, first-year Kylie Orr, who finished with a team-high 11 points on nine shots, kept the Scots in contention, going 2-of-3 from beyond the arc to go along with two free throws. Oberlin tallied 16 points for the third-straight period behind six points from Andrews, who finished with 12 on nine shots.

Wooster outscored Oberlin 15-14 in the final stanza but the deficit proved too steep as Oberlin took home its fourth conference road victory of the season.

Of note, Lockhart, who put in a season-high 16 minutes off the bench, totaled a season-best eight points and eight rebounds, three of which came on the offensive glass, while classmate Akwia Tilton pulled down another four offensive boards and seven overall. In addition, 62 marks the second-lowest point total by a Wooster opponent this season (59, Wittenberg).

The Scots resume conference action at Denison University (10-11, 7-5 NCAC) on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 1 p.m.