Nothing Like Being Home for the Holidays, Scots Down Bobcats 80-69

The College of Wooster women's basketball team continued to find success on its home court on Saturday with an 80-69 win over the University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg.

Wooster has now won four straight home contests and is currently 3-1 in the month of December.

The Scots got another strong outing out of sophomore Ella Dean who finished with a team-high 20 points – her fourth game this season where she has scored 20 or more points. Each of her field goals made came from beyond the arc where she went 6 of 16 from the floor and 6 of 12 from deep.

She was one 3-pointer shy of tying the individual program record for 3-pointers made in a game. She also collected six rebounds and blocked a career-best two shots.

Senior Alyssa Chritz followed with 17 points on 6 of 19 shooting with nine rebounds, six assists and four steals.

First-year Ace Sturdivant provided a fourth quarter spark to finish with 13 points, five assists and four rebounds. And sophomore Ella Biondi claimed the 10-point, 10-rebound double double.

Pitt.-Greensburg's Madison Scalese led all scorers with 24 points and pulled down 11 rebounds.

Wooster opened the game with a 9-2 run, capped by Dean's first 3-pointer of the game. The Scots went a bit cold from there as Pitt.-Greensburg took a 14-13 lead with four minutes left in the quarter.

However, two layups to conclude the quarter, one by Kylie Parsons and another by Chritz, shortened the lead to 21-19 after one quarter.

The two teams stayed with one another in the second quarter, but the Scots benefited in a stretch where they turned a 3-point deficit into a 3-point lead. 

Dean hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 30, and Anna Hardink later tied the game at 32 on a layup. On Wooster's next possession, Alexis Lovejoy sunk a 3-pointer to give Wooster the lead, which they held for the remainder of the quarter, going into the half up one at 37-36.

Wooster managed to distance themselves with a 20-11 third quarter, leading 57-47 after three quarters. They took their largest lead of the game at 14 with :50 seconds left in the third.

In the fourth, the Bobcats cut the lead to three with 2:17 remaining but a charge led by Sturdivant kept Wooster comfortable. The first-year scored the next five points, before Chritz scored on a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to secure the win.

Wooster, who now moves to 4-6, got some of their best secondary production all season. Hardink and Erica Beaty each finished with six points and six rebounds. Hardink's six points were a career-high.

Lovejoy also finished with six points off a 2 of 2 night from 3-point range. Wooster outscored the Bobcat bench 14-0.

Wooster shot 39 percent (31 of 79) from the court, 11 of 26 (42 percent) from range and went a perfect 7 of 7 from the foul line.

Pitt.-Greensburg (3-6) shot 36 percent (26 of 73) from the floor, 28 percent (8 of 29) from deep and 82 percent (9 of 11) from the foul line.

Wooster travels to Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham on Tuesday for their final game of 2023. They will then open the new year in conference play with a trip to Kenyon College.