The College of Wooster women's basketball team led by as many as 14 points and shot its best from the floor all season long but a strong third quarter from the Hiram College was the difference in a 69-59 defeat on Saturday.
Losing the rebounding battle 49-29 did not help the Scots as well as Hiram's Brooke Hickman controlled the paint all day, finishing with a game-high 24 points and 17 rebounds, 10 of which came off the offensive glass.
Hiram had two others reach double digits in scoring. Maddie Rakestraw scored 16 and Taylor Valaiitis scored 14.
Wooster's Mia Walker and Shalen Guilliams each scored 18 points. Guilliams scored her 18 in the first half, while Walker scored 12 of Wooster's 16 points in the fourth quarter.
First-year Ella Biondi finished two rebounds shy of the double-double with 12 points and eight rebounds. Senior Namara Rwakatare finished with six points and six boards.
The Scots looked solid early taking the first quarter lead at 18-16.
Guilliams gave Wooster (1-22, 0-12) its largest lead at 36-22 after a 3-pointer with two minutes remaining in the second quarter. However, the first-year guard tweaked her ankle after a Hiram 3-pointer with 1:14 left in the second quarter.
While she did return after halftime, Hiram used the final minute of the quarter to finish an 8-0 run that brought them to within six at halftime at 36-30.
Hiram (9-13, 3-8) kept that momentum with a game-defining third quarter, which they took 20-7. Wooster's final basket of the quarter was a nice feed from Erica Beaty to Biondi for a layup that gave them a 43-38 lead with 4:14 left.
Hiram then scored on its next two possessions to tie the game, which started a 12-0 run to end the quarter with the Terriers in the lead 50-43.
Hiram never lost the lead after that, but Wooster drew the deficit to three a few times. The Scots scored the first four points of the quarter to make it 50-47. Later, Walker scored on back-to-back possessions to find the Scots trailing once again by three.
Later, Wooster cut the lead to three at 60-57 with 3:33 remaining but only connected on one more shot from there.
The turnovers also hurt the Scots, who committed 20 for the game. Even more disappointing knowing they shot 46 percent (25-of-54) from the floor, which is a new season high. They were also 5-of-13 from deep (39 percent) and 67 percent (4-of-6) from the foul line.
Wooster only took six free throw attempts to Hiram's 27. The Terriers got 19 of its points from the charity stripe, while shooting 33 percent (23-of-69) from the floor.
Hiram's 24 offensive rebounds also led to 22 second chance points.
On Jan. 18, Hiram won the first matchup 53-45. In that one, Wooster played a strong second half as Guilliams hit 5-of-11 3-pointers and scored a career-high 24 points.
Wooster has two games left in the regular season. They travel to Denison University on Wednesday before returning home Saturday to host DePauw University.