Scots Win First NCAC Contest, Knocking Off Earlham 56-54 In Nail Biter

Beth Besancon Sidle

WOOSTER, Ohio – In a game that saw nine ties and seven lead changes, The College of Wooster women’s basketball team escaped a scare from visiting Earlham College to hold on for a narrow 56-54 victory in the North Coast Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

Earlham (0-5, 0-1 NCAC)) jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead in the opening three minutes, before the Fighting Scots (3-2, 1-0 NCAC) would get their first points on the board, courtesy of back-to-back three-point bombs by Beth Besancon Sidle, knotting the game at six early on. 

The game remained tight through the next seven minutes, with the visiting Quakers regaining the lead and going up by four on a Shontavia Davis jumper with 9:04 remaining on the clock.

The Scots quickly turned things around, scoring the next six points on a Besancon Sidle jumper sandwiched between two free throws each from Carly Loehrke and Kym Wenz.  Wooster would close the period on a 12-3 run, taking a 32-23 lead into the half. 

Earlham came out firing in the second period, inching its way back in to the game with a 10-1 run, tying the game 33-33 with 4:15 expired in the frame.  A Loehrke jumper, followed by a trey by Meredith Wilson put the Scots back up by five, however the visitors would not die, as they hung with the hosts throughout the next five minutes of action before tying the game again, 44-44 on a jumper by Lisa Vanderkolk.

The Quakers rattled off five of the next seven points, to take a three-point lead with  4:44 remaining.  A pair of foul shots and a jumper by Wenz put the Scots ahead 50-49 with 3:58 on the clock and Wooster would never trail again.  The Quakers did tie things up 54-54 with two free throws from Tasha Merrill, but Winnie Adrien responded, driving the lane for a bucket with 57 seconds left to seal the victory.

Leading the Scots was Besancon Sidle, who scored a team-high 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field, including 3-for-6 from three-point range. Wenz was close behind, with 13 points and six rebounds and Loehrke rounded out the double-digit scorers, bucketing 10 points to go along with a team-high eight boards and three blocks.

Earlham was paced by Whitney McBurrows' 16 points and four rebounds, while Vanderkolk chipped in with 10 markers.

For the game, Wooster shot 39.6 percent from the field (19-of-48), while Earlham shot a 36.2 percent clip on 17-of-47 shooting. Both teams ended up snagging 36 rebounds a piece on the afternoon.

Wooster will return to action Saturday, Dec. 9, when it travels to Springfield, Ohio to take on Wittenberg in a 2 p.m. tip-off.