Women’s Basketball Falls in Close Road Contest

Miles Rochester, Sports Editor

On Saturday, Dec. 3, Wooster’s women’s basketball team hit a slight bump in the road, as they fell to the home team — the University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg Bobcats — by a score of 70-58. Although the Scots put on a strong performance early on against Greensburg, they were unable to capitalize on all their opportunities to guarantee a win. 

The Scots entered the Bobcats’ court confidently, hoping to improve their 1-5 non-conference record. Right from the buzzer, Wooster began firing on all cylinders, showing glimpses of their boundless potential. Chloe Pordash ’26 initiated scoring in the first possession of the game as the Scots set the tone, looking to claim control in the early minutes. Their opponents, however, would not be put down so easily and the Bobcats retaliated by doing the dirty work of being relentless rebounders. Rebounding has been a persistent area of difficulty for the Scots, as they have not yet outrebounded their opponents in a game this season. 

After six possessions, the home team finally got on the board with a three-point shot to give Greensburg the lead. Through the ebbs and flows of the early game, each team exchanged buckets and neither was able to set themselves apart from the competition. With five minutes left in the first quarter and the game tied at nine points, Wooster began its first significant run of the game with Erica Beaty ’26 and Harley Holloway ’24 nailing back-to-back threes. On the defensive end, this run was sponsored by spectacular rebounding from Ella Biondi ’26 and Pordash. A block from Pordash also resulted in a Biondi layup, helping the Scots to build their momentum. With everyone moving seamlessly, it looked like Wooster was bound to run away with the game. The Bobcats, unhappy with the situation, needed a quick fix to get themselves back in the game. With three minutes remaining in the first half, two easy layups in the span of two seconds provided the home team exactly that. Bolstered by their late boost, the Bobcats were able to whittle Wooster’s eight-point lead down to five by the end of the first quarter, at which time Wooster held a 24-19 lead.

It was Pitt-Greensburg who struck first in the second quarter, going on a run of their own to capture the lead at 27-26, with many Wooster players accumulating fouls in the process. Beaty commented on the significance this stretch had on the game saying, “we really struggled once we got into foul trouble because we had to change the way we play to a less aggressive approach.” Even after surrendering their lead, the Scots proved that their first run was no fluke and again went on a hot streak. It was once again a Holloway jump shot that sparked the Scots, providing the first two of eight unanswered points that gave Wooster a seven-point advantage. This lead soon dissipated due to another run by the Bobcats, who bounced back from an over five-point deficit for the second time to reclaim the lead at 36-34 and push their total to 38 by the end the half.

The second half was not as kind to the Scots as the first, possibly due to many Wooster players getting into foul trouble; ultimately, the cause for Wooster’s inability to re-capture the lead for the remainder of the game stemmed from their inconsistency on offense. Although the Scots started the game strong by leading scoring in the first quarter with 24 points (a game high), Wooster’s productivity dropped significantly in the second quarter and never recovered afterwards. Meanwhile, the Bobcats were able to maintain and adapt their offense throughout the whole game, outscoring Wooster in three of the four quarters.

Although the ride home was certainly made longer by the lament of loss, the Scots’ season is still far from over. “I see growth in our efforts to play together as a team every day which leaves us all really optimistic for our future games,” explained Beaty. When asked about the team’s outlook on the rest of the season, Beaty concluded that “we see the possibility of what our program can become, and just keep working really hard at every practice to hopefully achieve our goals.”

It’s safe to say that the Wooster community is excited to see for themselves what this team can become. If it’s anything like the team that showed up in the first half against Pitt-Greensburg, then come time for conference play, the NCAC will be in trouble. Come out to Timken Gymnasium on Saturday, Dec. 10, to support the Scot women as they face their next challenge: the Chatham Cougars!