Scots to Close Out 2006 With Trips to California, Michigan

Carly Loehrke

   The College of Wooster women’s basketball team will conclude the 2006 portion of its schedule over the next few weeks, hoping to pick up several non-conference victories over opponents hailing from two different states. First, the Fighting Scots head west to California where they’ll tangle with the University of La Verne (5-1) on Tuesday, Dec. 19, at 1 p.m. Pacific Standard Time and then continue on to Whittier College (2-3) Thursday, Dec. 21, for a noon match-up (PST). La Verne and Wooster played once before, with the Leopards earning a 66-60 victory during the 1993-94 season, while the Scots and Whittier have never met previously on the hardwood.
    Wooster will then have some time off to observe the holidays before hitting the road again, this time traveling to Michigan to take on Olivet College (3-3) on Friday, Dec. 29, at 3 p.m., and over to Kalmazoo College (2-5) for a 2 p.m. tip-off the very next day. Friday’s contest will mark the first ever between Olivet and the Scots, even though they were in the same tournament earlier this year when the Comets played at Wooster in the season-opening Nan Nichols Classic. The Scots will be playing Kalamzoo for the fourth time, but the first since 1987-88 when the Hornets prevailed 67-54 to improve their record to 2-1 all-time against Wooster.

    Last Week: The Scots lost a league game on the road during their lone action last week, evening their records at 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference.
    On Dec. 9, Wittenberg University handed Wooster a tough 71-63 setback in Springfield, Ohio. Carly Loehrke (Kalamazoo, Mich./ Mattawan) had put the Scots up by one (63-62) with 3:09 left on the back end of a pair of free throws. However, Wittenberg came on strong in the final minutes, scoring eight points while forcing the Scots into four turnovers and 0-for-2 shooting during the home stretch. Overall, the game featured 13 lead changes and 13 ties, and it was Wooster who had held the halftime advantage (38-33). The Scots were led by their trio of guards – Kym Wenz (Avon Lake, Ohio / Avon Lake), Winnie Adrien (Selden, N.Y. / Blair Academy – N.J.), and Beth Besancon Sidle (Wooster, Ohio / Smithville) – throughout the game. Wenz ended up with 13 points and four rebounds, Adrien finished with 11 markers in the scorebook and four steals, and Besancon Sidle fired in 10 points to go with five assists and three rebounds.

    This and That: Wooster is the second-highest scoring team in the conference (65.7 ppg), while individually, Carly Loehrke (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Mattawan) ranks as the fourth-leading scorer (16.3 ppg) and second-leading rebounder (8.7 rpg) ... With her performance last week, Loehrke moved past Nara DeJesus (1999-03) into fourth on the Scots’ all-time scoring list, as she now has 1,067 points. Next up is LaSonya Crawl, who had 1,093 points from 1989-93, and Loehrke will also likely catch Lisa Diment (1,201 points; 1983-87) for second-place by season’s end ... Beth Besancon Sidle (Wooster, Ohio / Smithville) is also chasing a personal milestone. She looks to become just the second Scot to make 100 3-pointers for a career, as the senior sharpshoter has 67 right now. Lindsey Schaaff connected on 131 for Wooster from 2000-04.