Loehrke, Gonzalez Lead Scots to Victory at Ursuline Tournament

Carly Loehrke

Maria Gonzalez

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Behind all-tournament performances from Carly Loehrke (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Mattawan) and Maria Gonzalez (Millersburg, Ohio / West Holmes), The College of Wooster women’s basketball posted its first victories of the 2005-06 season this past weekend (Nov. 26-27) at the Ursuline Tournament. The Fighting Scots evened their season record at 2-2 by beating Carlow College 62-59 on Saturday, followed by a 55-44 win over Muskingum College in the championship game on Sunday.

Wooster found itself down early in the finals as the Muskies jumped on the board first with a 3-pointer and then went up by six (15-9) near the midway point of the opening period. Undaunted, the Scots answered with a 8-0 run to take the lead (17-15) for the first time with 4:30 to go in the half. Muskingum fired right back, scoring seven of the next nine points to grab a three-point lead (22-19) with under a minute to go, but Wooster closed the half with back-to-back buckets by Angela Evans (Worthington, Ohio / Thomas Worthington) and Gonzalez to take a 23-22 advantage into the locker room.

The momentum carried into the second half for the Scots as they went on a 13-4 run to open up a 10-point lead (36-26) with 10:59 left in the game and never looked back. Muskingum cut the deficit to six (36-30) at 7:18, but a 12-4 run capped off by a pair of free throws by Loehrke gave Wooster its largest lead of the day at 48-34 with just two minutes to go in the game. The Scots connected on 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

Gonzalez was top scorer with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field, while Loehrke threw in 14 tallies and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Sophomore Jessica Hope (Swartz Cree, Mich. / Swartz CreeK) came off the bench to collect a career-high seven rebounds and dish out five assists against just one turnover.

On Saturday, Wooster connected on 14-of-25 shots from the field and 7-of-7 free throws in the second half to get past Carlow 62-59. Loehrke and Gonzalez were again high scorers with 16 and 12 points, respectively, with Hope also in double figures with 13.

Loehrke was named the tournament Most Valuable Player after averaging 15 points and nine rebounds over the two games, while Gonzalez joined her on the all-tourney team after posting 15 points per game on 13-of-21 shooting from the field.

Wooster begins North Coast Athletic Conference play this week with a road trip to Earlham College in Richmond, Ind., on Saturday, Dec. 3, at 3 p.m.