Scots Fight Back, Hold On for Second Win

STEUBENVILLE – The youthful Fighting Scots of The College of Wooster women's basketball team learned how to play while down and then how to secure a win as they defeated Franciscan University of Steubenville 71-64 on Wednesday.

Wooster trailed by as many as 10 late in the second quarter only to reverse their fortunes in the second half, outscoring Franciscan 34-19. Wooster had its largest scoring run, 9-0, between the third and fourth quarters and held its largest lead at eight with two minutes remaining.

Franciscan (0-2) got to within four with just a minute left but missed a 3-pointer that would have cut the lead to one with 30 seconds left. From there, Wooster first-year Mackenzie Riccitelli hit 3-of-4 free throws to put the game away.

Riccitelli continued to impress in just her third game as a Fighting Scot, putting up a team-high 22 points and adding 14 rebounds for one of the team's two double-doubles. Riccitelli also added four steals and four assists.

Only Franciscan's Caroline Reedy scored more points, who finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds.

Junior Ella Biondi secured her second straight double-double midway through the third quarter and ended with 14 points and a career-high 19 rebounds.

First-year Emily Webb had her best scoring game to date, scoring 11 points. Classmate Ellery Kloek also set a new high with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting.

Sophomore Ace Sturdivant tallied 10 points, all of which was scored in the second half. She also added three assists and four rebounds.

Junior Erica Beaty scored six points off the bench and again had the best plus/minus on the team at 16.

Wooster shot 42 percent (27-of-65), did not have to rely on the 3-point shot (2-of-9) and got the job done at the foul line (15-of-21). Franciscan shot 35 percent (24-of-68) from the floor, connected on 28 percent (7-of-25) from range and was just 9-of-20 (45 percent) from the foul line.

Wooster (2-1) scored over half of its points in the paint (44) and scored 18 points off 16 Franciscan turnovers. Wooster also scored 21 fast break points and 12 second chance points. The Scots also outrebounded Franciscan 49-42.

Next, the Scots travel to Waynesburg University on Monday.