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| Vicki Meyer |
The College of Wooster attempted a 3-pointer and a regular field goal during the final six seconds, but neither fell as the Scots were unable to cap their furious second-half rally, and Grove City College prevailed 71-69 in the teams’ non-conference match-up Wednesday night in western Pennsylvania.
Wooster (2-4) trailed by as much as 16 during the second half (58-42) and was down 11 (69-58) with five minutes remaining, but the Scots would not give in. Wooster strung together three jumpers in a row, courtesy of Beth Besancon (Wooster, Ohio / Smithville), Vicki Meyer (Geneseo, N.Y. / Geneseo), and Carly Loehrke (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Mattawan), less than a minute apart, and suddenly the Scots were within five (69-64) at the 3:48 mark.
Neither squad scored for nearly two minutes. Loehrke broke the scoreless streak when she got free for a lay-up with just under two minutes to play, making it a one-possession game (69-66).
Grove City (4-2) finally ended an 0-for-7 shooting slump from the field with a Rachel McCoy lay-in, which put the hosts up 71-66 with 53 ticks left.
Meyer responded about 20 seconds later with her second 3-pointer of the night to bring Wooster within two points (71-69).
After a timeout, the two teams traded turnovers, the second of which a Wolverine was quickly fouled after a steal. However with :19 remaining, Grove City couldn’t put the game out of reach, as it missed the front end of a one-and-one.
On the Scots’ final possession, Besancon had a look at a 3-pointer with about six seconds left, then Maria Gonzalez (Millersburg, Ohio / West Holmes) gathered the long offensive rebound and fired up a 16-footer right before the buzzer to no avail.
The Wolverines got out of the gates quickly, taking a 17-5 lead just over six minutes into the action. After steadying itself, Wooster trimmed a 23-12 margin down to 23-22 with 10-straight tallies, but the series of runs continued, as Grove City regained the momentum with a 16-6 rally to close the half (39-28).
The Scots brought it within 41-34 early in the second half only to see the Wolverines go on a 17-8 tear, making it a 16-point game (58-42).
Individually, three double-doubles were posted, as Loehrke went for 14 points and 10 rebounds and Michelle Hall (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Mt. Lebanon) finished with a 10-spot in each of those columns, while Grove City’s Abby Moose scored 20 points and dished out a career-high 10 assists.
Along with Hall, reserve guards Besancon and Meyer also came off the bench for 10 points. It marked a career-high for Meyer.
Joining Moose in double figures were Tammy Hess and McCoy, who chipped in 13 and 10 points, respectively, in the winning effort.
Hall and Loehrke led Wooster to a 40-33 rebounding advantage, but the Scots were done in by 20 total turnovers as well as 28-of-66 field-goal shooting (.424), compared to 30-of-61 for the Wolverines (.492).
Wooster, on a three-game losing streak, will look to get back on the winning track this Saturday when it travels to Earlham College (2-4, 0-2 North Coast Athletic Conference) for a league match-up, starting at 1 p.m.
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