Despite holding the Kenyon Ladies to just 19 points in the second half, the Wooster womenís basketball teamís season ended in a 48-47 loss in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Tuesday in Gambier, Ohio.
The Scots (11-15, 8-8 NCAC) trailed the Ladies (17-9, 8-7 NCAC) throughout the entire game.† The Scotsí late comeback came with two minutes left and the team trailing by six (48-42), but ultimately fell short as their hopes of further playoff action were dashed by just one point in the end.
The Ladies blazed past the Scots in the opening minutes of the game, grabbing three steals against Wooster and building a 6-0 lead.† Baskets by Kym Wenz í10 and Jessica Wingen í13 pulled the Scots within four (8-4), but Kenyon retaliated with a 7-0 run that put them ahead 15-4 in the first eight minutes of the game.
Wooster responded by outscoring Kenyon over the last 11 minutes of action in the half, with three-pointers by Wenz on assists by Samantha Justice í12, a three-ball by Colleen Goodwillie í10 to cut their deficit to 26-22.
As Kenyon increased their lead before the half, Kaitlin Krister í10 scored on a Taylor Keegan í11 assist to bring the Scots within five points (29-24) going into the half.
Keshia Butler í12 rallied for the Scots in the opening minutes of the second half, converted at the hoop and assisted Krister. However, Kenyon steadily began to increase their lead over Wooster, reaching an 11-point advantage (39-28), the largest of the game.
Several minutes later, Wingen began a 7-0 run for Wooster, bringing the Scots within four (39-35) with eight minutes remaining in the game.† Goodwillie responded to a Kenyon three with her own to keep the Scots in the contest.
In the final minutes of the game, the Scots rallied behind Wenz, who scored on a three-pointer on an assist from Goodwillie, who later assisted Wingen to bring Wooster within one (48-47).† Wingen then blocked a Kenyon shot that was rebounded by Goodwillie, and the Scots called a timeout with seven seconds on the clock.
Coming out of the timeout, the team left its top two point guards, Butler and Samantha Justice í12 on the bench. Priscilla Staples í11 was unable to get the ball to the All-American Wenz. Staples instead inbounded the ball to Goodwillie, who forced up a contested three-pointer. The shot hit the front of the rim and bounced out as time expired, ending the teamís chances of advancing to the semi-final round for the first time in over 10 years.
In the remaining seconds, the Scots attempted one last basket, but came up short, ending their season.
Wooster shot 19-of-42 from the field and outrebounded Kenyon 34-of-28 for the night, a statistic that has been critical in Wooster this season.† The biggest difference was at the charity stripe, where the Scots went 4-of-11 while the Ladies were 14-of-20.
Wenz led the scoring with 17 points, and Wingen had 10 points and went 5-of-10 for shooting.† Goodwillie had eight points, three rebounds and three assists.
Woosterís earlier three-game winning streak was cut short last Friday in an 81-61 loss to North Coast Athletic Conference team Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio.† The Battling Bishops (18-6, 13-2 NCAC) went on a 15-2 run in the opening minutes of the game that the Scots (10-14, 7-8 NCAC) were never able to overcome.
Kristen Schwartz í12 connected on Woosterís only basket in the first six minutes of the game that put them behind by 13. Krister then scored and drew a free throw to bring them within 10 (15-5), but Ohio Wesleyan continued to overwhelm Wooster and led by as much as 21 (40-19) with just under five minutes in the half.
Wooster finished the first half with a 12-2 run, with five points coming from Butler† to cut Ohio Wesleyanís lead to nine (42-33).
The Scots drew upon the momentum that closed out the first half and opened the second half with another 12-2 run, with Wenz making back-to-back shots and offering an assist to Butler to put Wooster within one (48-47) with 14 minutes to go in the game.
The Battling Bishops regained their dominance and closed the game with a 33-14 run, leading by as much as 24 and finishing 20 points ahead of the Scots (81-61).† Ohio Wesleyan made good use of its free-throw opportunities, going 12-of-16, while Wooster went 4-of-7.
Krister led Woosterís play with a solid 11 points, eight rebounds, six assists and six blocks.† Her season total blocks now stand at 55, making her one of seven players in Woosterís history to reach 50 or more blocked shots in one season.† Wenz went 6-of-8 from the field and had 17 points and five boards.† Keegan added six points, five rebounds and three assists.
The next day Wooster traveled to Richmond, Indiana to face the Quakers in their second NCAC match-up of the season.† The Scots trailed by as much as 13 points in the first half and took their first lead on a 13-5 run that opened the second half to finish Earlhamís season in a 72-69 win.
Wenz and Earlhamís Nikki Darrett traded three-pointers to start the game, but the Quakers went on a 10-2 run against the Scots.† Wooster drew within two points several times on a jumper by Keegan (18-16) and a lay up by Krister (22-20) with six minutes left in the first half.† To finish the stanza, the Quakers added 11 unanswered points to give them a 13-point lead (33-20).† Baskets by Wenz and Samantha Justice í12 brought the Scots within eight (37-29) to close out the half.
Krister connected with Schwartz to start the second half, bringing the Scots within four (37-33). Wingen scored minutes later off an assist from Keegan, and Wenz scored with an assist from Justice to tie the game 42-42 with just over 13 minutes left to play.
Over the next seven minutes the Scots went on a 20-9 run to move ahead of the Quakers by 13 (64-51).† Earlham responded with a 17-4 run over the next five minutes to tie the game 68.† Krister scored two baskets to put the Scots ahead by one (70-69) and Schwartz added two more points on free throws to seal Woosterís win.
Wenz led the teamís scoring with 24 points and 8-of-14 shooting, including four three-pointers.† Krister had 18 points, 12 boards and four blocks, moving her into third on the all-time single-season list with 59.† Keegan had 12 points and four assists, while Justice had eight.
In other NCAC Tournament games, Wittenberg University defeated Hiram College in a 59-43 contest, Ohio Wesleyan University overcame Oberlin College in a close match (62-56) and Denison University dominated Allegheny College 80-58.
Wittenberg will host both tournament games tonight.† Denison will play Ohio Wesleyan tonight at 6 p.m. and Kenyon will face Wittenberg at 8 p.m.† The championship game will be at Wittenberg tomorrow at 7 p.m.