Scots Aiming to Continue Ascent Up NCAC Standings

Beth Besancon Sidle

      Having won three of its last four games and moved up to fifth in the league standings, The College of Wooster women’s basketball team is hoping to carry that momentum into a busy week of North Coast Athletic Conference play. Before the Fighting Scots take on the NCAC’s top-two on back-to-back evenings this weekend, they’ll face the last-place team to begin the week, as on Tuesday, Jan. 30, Oberlin College (5-13, 1-9 NCAC) will make the trip to Timken Gymnasium for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off. Wooster will be aiming for the regular season sweep after beating the Yeowomen at Oberlin Jan. 6 (61-51). This Friday night, Feb. 2, the Scots will be at home again when Ohio Wesleyan University (12-7, 7-3 NCAC), which enters this week in second-place, comes to town at 7:30 p.m. The game will mark the first meeting between the two this season, as Wooster looks to cut into the Battling Bishops’ 42-24 advantage in the all-time series, which includes a pair of OWU wins last year (60-45 at OWU and 84-55 at Wooster). The Scots will take to the road in their final contest of the week, traveling to league leader Denison University (17-3, 11-0 NCAC) Saturday, Feb. 3, at 7:30 p.m. The Big Red have won a school-record 13 games in a row, including a close 51-47 decision at Wooster on Jan. 10.

    Last Week: The Scots won both of their scheduled contests, going two games over .500 (10-8) for the first time since their season-opening tournament and improving to 5-4 in the NCAC.
    On Jan. 24, Wooster came from behind to hand previously second-place Allegheny College a 77-71 overtime defeat on the Gators’ home court. Allegheny scored the initial four points in overtime, but the Scots regained the lead on a Winnie Adrien (Selden, N.Y. / Blair Academy – N.J.) steal and lay-up (68-67). Some clutch free throw shooting from Wooster – 7-of-10 in the last minute – sealed the upset. The Scots ended the evening with four players scoring in double figures, led by Beth Besancon Sidle (Wooster, Ohio / Smithville) with 24 points and Carly Loehrke (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Mattawan) with 18 points and nine rebounds. Adrien chipped in 14 points, while Kym Wenz (Avon Lake, Ohio / Avon Lake) added 10.
    On Jan. 27, Wooster rebounded from a six-point halftime deficit (34-28), taking command in the second with a 23-5 run en route to a 71-59 victory over home-standing Earlham College. Included in that run was 11 unanswered points by the Scots, which started with a Besancon Sidle 3-pointer and was capped by an Angela Evans (Worthington, Ohio / Thomas Worthington) lay-up. The closest Earlham got after that was 64-57 with 1:34 remaining, but a couple of charity tosses by Maria Gonzalez (West Holmes, Ohio / Millersburg) and a 3-pointer from Meredith Wilson (Washington Ct. House, Ohio / Miami Trace) put Wooster back up by 12. For the game, all five of the Scots’ starters landed in double figures, with Wenz leading the way at 14 points. Loehrke posted 11 in the scoring column and a game-high eight rebounds, while Gonzalez added 11 points and seven boards. Also in the backcourt, Adrien had 11 points and Besancon Sidle chipped in 10 points and a game-high five assists.

    This and That: Scot senior shooting guard Beth Besancon Sidle (Wooster, Ohio / Smithville) was named the North Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week for her efforts last week. She hit 6-of-9 3-pointers as part of a game-high 24 points in the 77-71 overtime win at Allegheny and then contributed 10 points and a game-high five assists at Earlham. For the week, Bescanon Sidle combined for 34 points, including eight 3-pointers, six rebounds, seven assists, and two steals ... Senior forward Carly Loehrke (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Mattawan) reached a milestone last week, moving into second-place on the school’s career scoring list. She now has 1,211 points, surpassing Lisa Diment Panepento’s mark of 1,201 points from 1983-87.