Maddie Moran
Sports Editor
Last Friday and Saturday, Nov. 8 and 9, the Wooster women’s basketball team hosted their annual Nan Nichols Classic tournament at Timken Gymnasium, inviting Fredonia State, Carlow University and Thiel College. Wooster fell to the Carlow Celtics in a close game on Friday but defeated the Thiel Tomcats on Saturday. This game marked the Scots’ first win of the season and the first Wooster victory for new head coach Olivia Besancon.
Despite finding themselves down by 15 at the end of the third quarter in their first game, Wooster put on a show in the last quarter, outscoring Carlow 22-15. This effort was achieved with the help of an 8-point scoring run by Ace Sturdivant ’27, consisting of 2 3-pointers and 2 foul shots. This run brought Wooster within 4 points of the Celtics — the closest the score had been since the end of the first quarter.
The Scots were on the offensive during the last quarter, with layups by Erica Beaty ’26 and Ella Biondi ’26. This brought the score within 3 points of Carlow after a Celtic 3-pointer broke up Sturdivant’s run. Biondi kept them close amidst Carlow’s points from the free throw line. Sturdivant followed it up with a 3-pointer, leaving Wooster just 1 back from the Celtics, 60-59, with 17 seconds on the clock. Unfortunately, this momentum wasn’t enough to take the game, giving Carlow their first win of the year: 64-59.
The leading scorers of the game included Sturdivant with 20 points, Mackenzie Riccitelli ’28 with 13 and Biondi with 8. The final score was rounded out by Beaty, Emily Webb ’28 and Ellery Kloek ’28, who each scored 6 points. Riccitelli also led defensively with 12 rebounds, followed by Biondi and Sturdivant with 10 and 7, respectively.
From this game to their Saturday game against Thiel, the Scots improved their offensive efforts, especially for free throws, increasing from 6-15 (40%) to 19-23 (83%) from the line. Wooster also increased their field goal and 3-point shooting percentages both by about 15%.
“The mindset heading into game two was the same as the first game: just focus on us and the things we can control,” Besancon said. “Take the game one play at a time. [We were] focusing on giving max effort, bringing positive energy and working as a team in all aspects.”
Wooster took an early lead at the end of the first quarter after going bucket for bucket most of the way: 21-14. This breakaway stemmed from an 8-2 scoring run by Sturdivant, Webb and Biondi that gave the Scots the lead until late in the third quarter.
Thiel tied the score at 41 with 5 minutes left in the third, which exploded into another point-for-point fight. Wooster won this fight with a 14-point scoring run led by Riccitelli and Sturdivant, with 4 and 5 points, and finished off by Biondi with 5 points, bringing the score to 58-45.
Thiel called 3 timeouts in the last minute of the game to regroup and develop a comeback strategy. This attempt was thwarted and led to Wooster finishing out the game with 8 straight foul shots, defeating the Tomcats: 79-70.
Sturdivant showcased a career-high 29-point game, followed by Riccitelli with an early career-high of her own, boasting 23 points. Their performances put them onto the All-Tournament team, receiving the honors on the court after the game.
Biondi fell just shy of making the team for the weekend, but she did put up her first double-double of the year with 18 points and 13 rebounds. She was also credited with 3 blocked shots on Saturday.
“This weekend was very special to me,” said Riccitelli. “Having my family and friends there to support me really motivated me to play well. I was excited to finally put our hard work on display and show what we’ve been working on these past couple of months. It was also extremely exciting to get my first win as a collegiate athlete, especially coming back after the loss to Carlow. It was amazing for Coach Liv [Besancon] to get her first win of the season at home, and we are excited for the rest of the season.”
The Scots will travel to Waynesburg, Pennsylvania to take on the Waynesburg University Yellow Jackets on Monday, Nov. 18 at 6 p.m.