Scots Open NCAC Slate with 70-59 Victory at Earlham

Carly Loehrke, shown here against Denison last winter, led Wooster with 17 points and 12 rebounds at Earlham.

RICHMOND, Ind. – The College of Wooster kicked off the 2005-06 North Coast Athletic Conference schedule in strong fashion on Saturday afternoon, defeating host Earlham College 70-59 behind a 17-point, 12-rebound performance from star player Carly Loehrke (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Mattawan). The Fighting Scots have won three straight to move to 3-2 on the year, while Earlham remains winless at 0-6.

Despite the double-digit victory, Wooster found itself down early in the first half as the hosts raced out to a 6-0 lead and maintained the advantage for the first 14 minutes of the game. Following a jumper by Earlham’s Tasha Merrill at 7:23 that made it 16-13 in favor of the Quakers, the Scots went on an 11-1 run, including a pair of jumpers and a free throw by junior Maria Gonzalez (Millersburg, Ohio / West Holmes), to take the lead at 24-17.

Wooster went up by seven twice more before the end of the half (26-19 and 28-21), but Earlham closed the stanza by scoring six of the nine points to cut the lead to just four (31-27) at the break.

The Scots opened the second period with a 13-0 run sparked by seven points by Loehrke to put the margin at 17 (44-27) just under five minutes in and appeared to have control. However, the pesky Quakers refused to go away, chipping away at the lead and cutting it to six (59-53) on an old fashioned three-point play by Guin Summerton with just over three minutes left in the game.

Wooster, the NCAC leaders (tied) in free throw percentage a season ago, made the lead hold up as the Scots converted 9-of-10 shots from the charity stripe over the last 3:35, including a perfect 6-of-6 by senior Vicki Meyer (Geneseo, N.Y. / Geneseo). Loehrke sealed the deal with a layup with 42 seconds remaining on the clock to set the final score.

Loehrke led the way with her second double-double in her last three games, converting 6-of-8 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Gonzalez was also in double figures for the fourth time in five games with 14 points, while Meyer tied her career-high set earlier this season with a dozen tallies. Freshman Meredith Wilson led the production from the bench with a season-high eight points, including a pair of triples.

Whitney McBurrows and Merrill led Earlham with 14 points apiece, with the former also contributing 10 rebounds. Janee Covington chipped in with 13 points off the Quaker bench.

Wooster returns to Timken Gymnasium on Wednesday, Dec. 7, for a non-conference match up with Ursuline College at 5:30 p.m.