Aleksi Pelkonen
Sports Editor
The College of Wooster 11th-ranked men’s basketball team finished the week with a 1-1 record. On Wednesday, the Scots lost a hard fought battle at home against conference rival, Denison University. On Saturday, the Scots bounced back with a road win over Wabash, 66-62.
Against Denison, the Scots fell behind early in the game, with Denison running out of the gates to a 13-0 lead. The Scots rallied and took the lead from the Big Red in the second half. Denison ended the game on a 10-0 run to win the game, 65-59.
The Scots shot a meager 2-15 from behind the three-point line and turned over the ball 14 times, with only nine assists. Dan Fanelly ’17 led the Scots with a team-high 22 points on 8-13 shooting.
“We just need to play a lot smarter,” team captain Ari Stern ’18 said.
Against Wabash, the Scots once again struggled offensively, shooting only 37 percent from the field. However, their strong defense forced Wabash into 15 turnovers and 37 percent shooting from the field. The Scots put together a strong performance on the glass, out-rebounding the Little Giants.
“We didn’t play a good game against Wabash, but we still pulled out a win,” Stern said.
Despite the 4-2 start, Stern is still confident that the Scots can improve on recent performances and put together another strong season.
“We truly believe we can win every game on our schedule,” he said. “We’re excited for the rest of the season.”
The Scots fell from #11 to #17 in D3Hoops.com’s national Top 25 rankings.
The Scots’ season continues with a game on the road against Hiram on Wednesday after press time. Then the Scots host the DePauw Tigers at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.
The women’s basketball team started off their week with a road game against Oberlin College. The Scots struggled offensively, shooting only 21 percent from the field against the Yeomen’s 36 percent. Despite forcing 18 Oberlin turnovers, the Scots ultimately lost their fourth game of the season, 47-68.
On Saturday, the Scots hosted Case Western Reserve. Despite falling behind early, the Scots came back to within eight points in the third quarter, but lost their fifth game of the season.
Wooster guard Aki Shurelds ’18 shot the ball extremely well, tying a single-game program record with seven three-pointers on 10 shots. She led the Scots with 23 points.
Case’s offense proved to be too much for the Scots to handle. The Spartans had three players score at least 20 points and shot over 50 percent from the field as a team on their way to 97 points.
“One thing our team needs to work on is help-side defense,” forward Christina Vukovich ’19 said. “It’s still an important aspect of the game that we need to work on.”
However, Vukovich said that despite the team’s disappointing start to the season (1-5), they are still confident going forward. “We like the challenge and want to prove how tough and good we can be,” she said. “And not just as basketball players, but people as well.”
The Scots will take on Hiram College on the road on Wednesday after press time, before hosting DePauw University at 1:00 p.m. at Timken gymnasium on Saturday.
