Scots Aiming to Advance in NCAC Tourney for First Time in 11 Years

Carly Loehrke

    Having clinched its first winning season in 14 years (since 1992-93), The College of Wooster women’s basketball team will be shooting for another milestone this week when it kicks off the 2007 North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals Tuesday evening, Feb. 20, in Meadville, Pa. The Fighting Scots are seeking to advance in the NCAC tourney for the first time since the 1995-96 season. Wooster tied for fifth in the NCAC, but is the No. 6 seed after losing a coin flip, and will be at third-seeded Allegheny College (17-7) for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off. The Scots enter with momentum, having upended rival Wittenberg University 70-56 in the regular season finale, and knowing that they defeated the Gators in Meadville earlier this year – 77-71 in overtime on Jan. 24. Allegheny evened the season series Feb. 7 with a 64-55 vicotry at Wooster. The winner of the Allegheny-Wooster quarterfinal game will play either second-seeded Wittenberg (14-10) or seventh-seeded Earlham College (4-21) in the semifinals Friday evening at the campus of the highest remaining seed. The NCAC Tournament championshp is set for 7 p.m. on Saturday.

    NCAC Tourney Notes: Wooster, which owns a mark of 13-21 (.382)  in NCAC Tournament play, is aiming to reach the semifinals for the first time since the 1995-96 team advanced all the way to the finals of the conference tourney before losing to Wittenberg 69-66.
    The Scots’ lone NCAC Tournament championship came in 1990, when they topped former NCAC member Case Western Reserve University 60-44, Ohio Wesleyan University 79-74, and Wittenberg 72-56.

    Last Week: Wooster split two games for the second week in a row, capping the regular season at 14-11 overall and 9-7 in the NCAC.
    On Feb. 15, the Scots built an early eight-point cushion (17-9) and held a slight advantage at the halftime break (26-25), but Ohio Wesleyan took the lead for good midway through the second and pulled away to a 63-56 victory. Leading Wooster again was Carly Loehrke (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Mattawan), who ended the evening with 19 points and 12 rebounds, both game highs, for her fourth double-double this season. Also putting forth an all-around effort was Maria Gonzalez (Millersburg, Ohio / West Holmes), who had 12 points, eight boards, three assists, and two steals.
    On Feb. 17, the Scots picked up a win over Wittenberg for the first time since 1997-98, leading for the entire second half over the NCAC’s second-place team and eventually securing a 70-56 decision. There were five ties and nine lead changes throughout the first half before Wooster closed with a mini-run to take a 30-26 lead. The Scots used an early 12-3 stretch in the second to go ahead by 13 (44-31), but Wittenberg would pull back within four (46-42) at the 12:00 mark. A 3-pointer by Beth Besancon Sidle (Wooster, Ohio / Smithville) may have been the dagger to the Tigers’ comeback, as it gave Wooster a 10-point lead (58-48) with about five minutes to play and it never got any closer than eight the rest of the way. While it was “Senior Day,” freshman Winnie Adrien (Selden, N.Y. / Blair Academy – N.J.) led the Scots with a season-high 18 points in 20 minutes. The three seniors did play key factors as well, as Loehrke and Besancon Sidle chipped in 14 and 13 points, respectively. Gonzalez added eight points and a game-high five assists as well as sharing team honors in rebounding with eight. Kym Wenz (Avon Lake, Ohio / Avon Lake) was the other Scot with eight rebounds and she contributed 10 points as well.

    NCAC Player of the Week: Senior post Carly Loehrke (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Mattawan) was named the North Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week for the second time this season. She combined for 33 points on 13-of-18 field goals (.722) and 7-of-8 free throws (.875) as well as 17 rebounds, four assists, and two blocked shots in two games last week.