BLUFFTON – Sophomore Mackenzie Riccitelli took control late for The College of Wooster women's basketball team and made it count, scoring with 1.2 seconds remaining and leading the Scots to a 68-66 win over Bluffton College on Saturday.
 
Riccitelli scored Wooster's last six points of the game to go along with her 14 fourth quarter points. Her season-high 24 points tied a game-high with Bluffton's Karlie Niekamp.
 
Late in the fourth, Riccitelli hit a jumper from atop the key to give Wooster a 64-62 lead with less than two minutes remaining. A big defensive stop next trip down gave Wooster a prime opportunity to increase its lead, but Riccitelli could not get a driving layup to fall.
 
With 44 seconds remaining, an interesting foul call in Bluffton's next possession rewarded them two free throws as Jessica Moore sunk both to tie the game at 64.
 
Riccitelli came through on Wooster's next possession, scoring on a tough, driving layup. Yet, Bluffton responded with an easy layup, tying the game once more with 27 seconds remaining.
 
Wooster used all but 1.2 seconds as Riccitelli scored on a turnaround near the block. Bluffton had one last chance and heaved the ball down court, but sophomore Emily Webb was there for the defensive stop.
 
Webb played valuable minutes, scoring four points with six assists and three rebounds off the bench.
 
Senior Ella Dean was Wooster's second leading scorer as she scored all 12 of her points in the first half thanks to four 3-pointers. Meanwhile, Niekamp scored 18 of Bluffton's 30 first half points.
 
Dean helped Wooster respond to a slow start after Bluffton scored the game's first five points.The Scots pulled ahead for the first time at 9-7 behind Dean's first 3-pointer of the game.
 
Dean hit two additional 3-pointers in the quarter, including one with 24 seconds remaining to give Wooster a 21-14 lead after the first.
 
Wooster led by as many as 12 in the second quarter thanks to part to 3-pointers from Dean and Abby Henegar as well as second chance points from Webb. The Scots carried a 37-30 lead at the break.
 
In the third, the leading scorers of the first half were held at bay, while others stepped up for their respective teams
 
Henegar, Pink Sturdivant and Ace Sturdivant all contributed to Wooster's 12 points in the quarter. However, the Scots slowed down near the end of the quarter, being held scoreless in the final three minutes and allowing Bluffton to cut its deficit to just four at 49-45.
 
In the fourth, Bluffton took its first lead since the first quarter, 51-50, at the 7:45 mark. Then the teams traded 3-pointers, a pair from Ace Sturdivant and Riccitelli, while Bluffton kept answering to keep a small 57-56 lead.
 
Sturdivant hit a pair of free throws to put Wooster ahead once again at 58-57 as the teams kept trading points until Riccitelli's game winner.
 
Wooster shot 45 percent (26-58) from the court and 42 percent (8-19) from range, but Bluffton was slightly better, who shot 46 percent from both the floor (22-48) and from 3-point range (5-11).
 
Wooster held the slight rebounding advantage, 35-34, and both teams committed 19 turnovers. The one clear advantage Wooster had was in bench points, outscoring Bluffton 16-4.
 
Henegar finished with eight points. First-year Hannah Stroebe also added four points and four rebounds.
 
Amongst the starters, Ace Sturdivant finished with nine points and six rebounds. Senior Ella Biondi tallied four points and seven rebounds, while Pink Sturdivant finished with three points and five rebounds.
 
Wooster, who improves to 6-4 with the win, will turn around and square off against Earlham College (1-7) on Sunday in their final game of 2025.