Women’s Basketball Falls in Nan Nichols Classic Opener

The College of Wooster women's basketball team had its chances on Friday in their opening game of the Nan Nichols Classic but could not get enough things to go their way in a 46-42 loss to Houghton University.

Sophomore Ella Biondi ended with her first double-double of the year with 19 points and 14 rebounds. She also made three blocks.

Senior Alyssa Chritz was close herself with seven points and nine rebounds, while sophomore Ella Dean went 3-for-6 from 3-point range to score a career-high 13 points.

Houghton was led by a 12-point performance from Hanna Farley, who led Houghton in the fourth, with six points on 3-of-3 shooting.

Wooster came out strong, winning the first quarter 16-13. They overcame six lead changes in the quarter and led by as many as six after an 8-0 run with 3:12 remaining.

In that run, Dean hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Wooster a four-point lead after trailing by two.

Neither team carried any momentum in the second quarter as Houghton won the quarter 8-4 to lead at halftime 21-20. Wooster shot just 2-of-13 in the quarter but limited the Highlanders to just 4-of-19 shooting.

Wooster stayed in the game all the way throughout, losing the third quarter by a point and the fourth by two. 

Wooster had opportunities late, trailing by two with 1:41 left. First-year Ace Sturdivant had a look at an open 3-pointer with a minute to go and later a chance in the lane with seconds remaining but both attempts fell short.

Wooster (0-1) could not capitalize on a 1-of-29 (3.4 percent) night from beyond the arc from the Highlanders (2-0), but Houghton took almost 20 more shot attempts (19-of-71) than the Scots (11-of-52).

Wooster got to the line plenty, going 17-of-26 (65.4 percent) and shot 3-of-12 (25 percent) from long range.

Biondi (5-of-19), Dean (4-of-8) and Chritz (2-of-10) made the only field goals for Wooster. Sturdivant scored two points from the line, and Kylie Parsons scored one for their first points as Scots.

The second day of the Nan Nichols Classic starts at 1 p.m. Saturday with Houghton and Illinois Institute of Technology facing off. The Scots take on Franciscan University of Steubenville in the 3 p.m. finale. Franciscan defeated Illinois Tech on Friday, 72-67.