Scots Still Competing for Top-Four NCAC Finish in Final Week

Beth Besancon Sidle

      The College of Wooster ends the regular season this week with an opportunity to clinch a winning season for the first time since 1992-93, while also continuing to battle for fourth-place in the North Coast Athletic Conference, which would mean a home game in the quarterfinal round of next week’s NCAC Tournament. The Fighting Scots enter this week in a tie for fifth-place, and on Wednesday, Feb. 14, they play at Ohio Wesleyan University (13-10, 8-6 NCAC), the league’s other fifth-place team, at 6 p.m. The squads met just 12 days prior when Ohio Wesleyan was in second-place, and the Scots upended the Battling Bishops 62-57. On Saturday, Feb. 17, Wooster will be home for the regular season finale as it welcomes arch-rival Wittenberg University (13-9, 10-4 NCAC) to Timken Gymnasium for a 2 p.m. tip-off. The Scots will be aiming for a split in the season series with the Tigers after dropping a 71-63 decision in Springfield way back on Dec. 9.

    Last Week: Wooster split a pair of contests last week, moving to 13-10 overall as well as 8-6 in conference action.
    On Feb. 7, Allegheny College used separate runs of 15-4 and and 10-2 during the opening half to build a 41-27 lead at the break and went on to a relatively comfortable 64-55 NCAC victory over the Scots. Wooster did make things interesting in the second, cutting the lead all the way down to four (51-47) around the eight-minute mark, however, the rest of the game was all Gators as they extended their lead to 11 (60-49) before settling for the final nine-point margin. The Scots were led by the all-around play of Winnie Adrien (Selden, N.Y. / Blair Academy – N.J.), who finished with 16 points, five rebounds, and four steals. Beth Besancon Sidle (Wooster, Ohio / Smithville) tossed in 14 points, to go along with six caroms and four steals, while Carly Loehrke (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Mattawan) collected a game-high 11 rebounds.
    On Feb. 10, Wooster shot 50 percent for the game (23-for-46), including 5-of-12 3-pointers (.417), leading to a 73-60 triumph of host Hiram College. It was a back-and-forth game throughout the first half, which ended with Kym Wenz (Avon Lake, Ohio / Avon Lake) hitting a 3-pointer right before the buzzer for a 28-25 Scot lead. The momentum from that shot may have carried into the second, as Wooster steadily pulled way to a double-digit lead by the six-minute mark and cruised from there to the 13-point win. Wenz was the key player, pouring in a team-high 19 points on 5-of-9 field goals (3-of-6 3-pointers) and 6-of-7 free throws. Loehrke was close behind with 17 tallies in the scorebook and a game-high seven rebounds, while Adrien also finished in double figures, bucketing 11 points.

    This and That: Senior shooting guard Beth Besancon Sidle (Wooster, Ohio / Smithville) could hit a milestone this week, as she needs to make just four more 3-pointers to reach 100 for her career. Only one other Wooster player has made as many – Lindsey Schaaff (131 from 2000-04) ... Senior forward Carly Loehrke (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Mattawan) continues to climb the school’s career charts as well. The Scots’ second-leading scorer (1,288 points) could finish No. 2 in rebounding, needing to add 37 more to her current total of 778 to do so. She will finish as the team’s career leader in field-goal percentage (.549), fifth in free throw percentage (.774), and third in blocks (119).