Maria Janasko

Hiram College picked up its first North Coast Athletic Conference win and denied The College of Wooster women's basketball team its first after a 92-83 outcome at Timken Gymnasium on Wednesday. 

Junior Maria Janasko was a rebound shy of a double-double but finished with a team- and career-high 22 points on 10-of-21 shooting. Senior Cat Fiorito tallied 14 points and five assists, and classmate Aubri McKoy finished with 11 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Sophomore Masani Francis scored a career-high 12 points and classmate Jenna Stanton added 10 points of her own. The two combined for 22 of Wooster's 29 bench points.

Hiram was led by a career-high performance from Madison Branch who finished with a game-high 32 points. Haley Thompson and Tashauna Wright each added 18 points.

The game featured nine ties and seven lead changes and was not decided until the final quarter. Hiram led by as many as 13 in the third quarter, but Wooster fought to reclaim the lead in the fourth.

Stanton scored on a 3-pointer with six minutes remaining to tie the game at 74 before Sarah Marion scored on back-to-back possessions to give Wooster the four-point advantage.

Wooster led 80-77 with 3:31 remaining until Hiram went on a 7-0 run. The Scots had three straight possession with a turnover, while Hiram scored on a huge and-1 opportunity to retake the lead.

From there, Hiram only widened the gap as Wooster scored just one field goal in the final three minutes. 

Wooster trailed by 11 early in the second quarter but used a 13-2 run to tie the game at 27. The teams tied again at 34 until Janasko gave Wooster a 2-point lead. However, at halftime Hiram would lead 43-38.

Both teams shot well from the floor as Wooster finished at 46 percent (32-of-70). Hiram was a bit better at 52 percent (34-of-65).

Yet, Hiram shot 41 percent (9-of-22) from 3-point territory, while Wooster settled at 20 percent (4-of-20). Both teams shot above 80 percent from the foul line.

Hiram won the rebounding battle 35-33. Wooster outscored the Terriers in the paint 48-34 and on the bench 29-14.

Wooster moves to 4-9 overall and 0-4 in the North Coast Athletic Conference. Hiram improves to 4-10 overall and 1-4 in the NCAC.

Wooster will hit the road this weekend to take on seventh-ranked DePauw University (13-1, 5-0 NCAC).