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| Carly Loehrke |
With its starting center sitting out with an ankle injury, The
College of Wooster women's basketball team knew it needed a total
team effort to come away with a win against an always strong Allegheny
College squad, and the Scots responded by hanging on for the 63-59
victory at Timken Gymnasium in the conference opener for both teams.
The Scots improve their overall record to 2-1 this season and 1-0
in the North Coast Athletic Conference, while Allegheny falls to
3-2, 0-1 NCAC.
Wooster jumped on the visiting Gators from the start, opening the
game with an 11-4 spurt capped off by a layup by Carly Loehrke
(Kalamazoo, Mich. / Mattawan). Loehrke became the focus of the
Scots' offense in the first half with junior Michelle Hall (Pittsburgh,
Pa. / Mt. Lebanon) out with an injury, and she promptly responded
with eight points and 12 rebounds in the first half alone.
Allegheny took the lead for the first time in the game at 9:28
in the first half as Beth Van Parys nailed the 3-pointer
making the score 15-13 and ending an 11-2 run by the visitors.
The two squads exchanged the lead five times in the first half
with the Gators taking six-point lead (25-19) with 5:06 left, only
to see the Scots bounce back with a 11-3 run, highlighted by a deep
3-point shot by sophomore Beth Besancon (Wooster, Ohio /
Smithville) with time winding down. Entering the locker room, Wooster
held the slim 30-28 lead.
In the second half, Wooster once again jumped on the Gators, scoring
the first six points to go up by eight points (36-28). Allegheny
battled back, taking the 40-39 lead at 13:58, only to have sophomore
Maria Gonzalez (Millersburg, Ohio / West Holmes) convert
a shot for two of her seven second half points to put the Scots
up by one.
The Gators would retake the lead twice more in the second half,
first at 11:45 (42-41), and again at 10:21 (45-43), but each time
Wooster immediately responded. With 8:24 left in the game, freshman
Heather Moore (Zanesville, Ohio / Philo) converted the front
end of two free throws to put the Scots up for good at 46-45.
Wooster stretched the lead to six (60-54) with under a minute remaining,
but Courtney Steding banked in a 3-point attempt high off
the glass to pull the Gators within three. With just eight seconds
remaining and the Scots clinging to the three-point lead, junior
Natalie Barone (Akron, Ohio / St. Thomas Aquinas) fouled
Kristen Lyzen on a 3-point attempt, giving Allegheny a chance.
Lyzen missed her first two attempts and after a timeout by the
Gators, missed the third with the hope of getting the offensive
rebound, but Alexis Loutitt (Lodi, Ohio / West Holmes) corralled
the loose ball, forcing Allegheny to foul her. Louttit converted
on both her attempts, putting the Scots back up by five (62-57)
with just six seconds left.
Meredith McDonough hit the open jumper on the next Allegheny
possession to pull within three, but time ran out for the Gators.
Gonzalez was fouled on the inbound pass and made her first free
throw to seal the four-point win for the Scots.
The Scots outscored the Gators in the paint 32-18, led by Loehrke
who posted a double-double on the night with team highs of 18 points
and 13 rebounds. Louttit picked up 10 rebounds to go with six points,
while Gonzalez scored nine points and grabbed nine rebounds, five
of which were offense caroms.
Stepping up in Hall's absence were Moore and senior Sara Perry
with seven points a piece in quality playing time. Barone posted
her third consecutive game in double figures with 11 points and
added a team-high seven steals.
Allegheny had a trio of players in double figures, led by Lyzen
and sophomore Katie Kestler with 11 points each. Steding posted
a double-double with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field
and grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds.
Wooster will try to make it two-in-a-row to open conference play
as the squad travels to Gambier, Ohio, for a 1 p.m. contest with
Kenyon College this Saturday (Dec. 4). |
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