Second-Half Surge Leads Scots To 85-52 Season-Opening Victory Over Lake Erie

Kym Wentz

Wooster, Ohio – The College of Wooster women’s basketball team torched the net for 54 second-half points on 21-of-28 (75 %) shooting from the field, en route to overwhelming visiting Lake Erie College 85-52 Saturday afternoon during the first-round of action in the eleventh annual Nan Nichols Classic.  The 54 points was the fourth-largest output by any Wooster squad in history during the second half.

It looked as if the game would be a battle between the two squads with the Fighting Scots jumping out to a quick 4-0 lead on a jumper by freshman guard Kym Wentz, only to have Lake Erie tie the game at six on free throw from Jalisa Mitchell.

The Scots would regain the lead when senior guard Maria Gonzalez hit a jumper with 16:11 on the clock and would build as much as a nine-point cushion before The Storm would come surging back, using a seven-point run to make its way back into the contest. A three-pointer by Angela Bethel put the visitors up by one, 24-23 with four minutes remaining in the half, before Wooster would answer with an eight-point run of its own, capped by a lay-up by freshman point guard Winnie Adrien with 13 seconds on the clock, giving the Scots a 31-24 at the half.

The Storm came out gunning in the second half, beginning the stanza with a 14-2 run over a span of four minutes that gave the visitors a 38-35 lead.  From that point on, Wooster turned the tables, cutting the lead to one on a Wenz layup before regaining the lead for good on a two Carly Loehrke free throws.

The Scots blew open the game with 14 minutes remaining in play, using a 46-14 run to shut the doors on the visitors and give the Scots their first victory of the 2006-07 campaign. The victory sends the Scots back to the tournament finals, after missing out on an appearance during the 2005-06 season.

The Scots wound up with four players scoring in double figures, with Wenz leading the way in her first-career game with 18 points. Loehrke tossed in 13 points and pulled down a team-high six rebounds.  Sophomore guard Meredith Wilson scored a career-high 13 points, adding four boards, while senior sharpshooter Beth Besancon Sidle returned to the Scots lineup with 10-point, four-rebound performance. Adrien dished out a team-high eight assists for Wooster, while also contributing six points in her first career start.

In other first-round action, Thiel College defeated Olivet College by a 69-65 margin. The game was close throughout, with the Tomcats taking a slim two-point (28-26) cushion into the half.

Thiel began to pull away during the second half, building a double-digit lead on several occasions, but Olivet never went away, whittling away at the lead until the very end, with the Tomcats holding on for the narrow four-point victory.

Leading Thiel’s scoring attack was Amber Bodrick, who pumped-in a game-high 27 points, as well as hauling in a team-high eight rebounds. Fontella Jones added 13 points, three assists and five boards, while Nicole Valentino contributed 11 points, four rebounds and four assists. Jena Cook rounded out Thiel’s double-figure scorers with 10 points.

For Olivet, Stephanie Smith fired in a team-high 25 points and Jaime Kowalczyk added 10 points and five boards. Courtney Ivan snagged a team-best eight rebounds, while Kenzie Steward handed out seven assists for the Comets.

Tournament action will resume Sunday, with Lake Erie taking on Olivet in the consolation game slated for 1 p.m.  The championship game will immediately follow, at approximately 3 p.m. and will pit Wooster against Thiel.