Big Second Half Propels Wooster to First Win

The College of Wooster women's basketball team set the tone in the second half and reversed a halftime deficit to collect its first win of the season on Saturday, defeating Defiance College 74-60.

Wooster trailed 31-28 at halftime but used a 27-13 third quarter to take the lead and never look back.

Defiance scored the first points of the third quarter, but momentum shifted when sophomore Ella Biondi connected on an and-1 opportunity. Soon after, a steal from Ella Dean led to a fast break for Alyssa Chritz who tied the game at 33 with a layup.

Those first points started an 11-0 run for the Scots as Dean sunk a 3-pointer to give Wooster the lead for good. Chritz would then follow by connecting on another and-1 opportunity for the Scots to make it 39-33.

First-year Ace Sturdivant kept the pressure on, scoring four of Wooster's next seven points to grow their lead to 11.

Wooster led 55-44 after three quarters and led by as many as 16 in the fourth quarter.

The teams were tied at 17 after the first quarter of play, while Wooster took the fourth 19-16.

Four Scots scored in double figures with two collecting career-highs.

The senior Chritz once again upped her career-high in points, this time with 25 after going 10 of 19 from the floor and 2 of 4 from range. She scored a then career-high 22 points in a 64-61 loss to Franciscan University last week.

Sturdivant tied her career-high with another 18-point performance.

The duo each recorded a game-high 12 rebounds as well to notch their first double-doubles of the year. For Sturdivant, it was her first double-double of her Scot career and a career-high.

Dean scored 12 points and tied Chritz with a team-high three assists. Biondi scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Off the bench, sophomore Erica Beaty connected on a pair of 3-pointers to finish with six points and seven rebounds. Senior Alex Walker also got some minutes, scoring two points from the charity stripe.

Wooster (1-3) shot 40 percent (25 of 62) for the game, 37 percent (7 of 19) from deep and a season-best 81 percent (17 of 21) from the foul line.

Defiance (0-4) was led by 15 points from Aliza Clark, and 13 points and seven rebounds from Taylor Bates. The Yellowjackets shot just 21 percent (7 of 34) from range and 32 percent (23 of 72) from the floor.

Wooster scored 15 fast break points and nine second chance points and outrebounded Defiance 51-36.

Wooster will hit the road for the first time this season on Tuesday when they head to Capital University.