Box Score GAMBIER, Ohio – The Kenyon College women's basketball team kicked it into gear over the final 12 minutes Wednesday night to rally from a ten-point deficit against visiting Wittenberg University. Thanks to a 26-10 run over that span and a career night from senior Kayla Ernst  the Ladies tamed the Tigers for a 64-58 victory in their North Coast Athletic Conference opener.

Kenyon (7-1, 1-0 NCAC) owned a slim, 32-30 lead at halftime only to see Wittenberg post an 18-6 advantage over the first 7:30 of the second period. Trailing 48-38, the Ladies defense shut down the Tigers while the offense slowly whittled the gap down. Ernst hit a pair of shots in the paint and junior Maureen Hirt canned four free throws to help Kenyon get within three (50-47) by the 6:30 mark.

Sophomore Lauren Kriete then flushed a three-pointer that tied the score. Ernst and Hirt followed with a field goal each, but the Tigers (3-4, 1-1 NCAC) answered each one to keep the game deadlocked (54-54) entering the final three minutes.

When junior Maggie Boelter drained a three-pointer with 2:43 remaining, it was the beginning of the end for Wittenberg. Ernst added a layup, Hirt hit two more charity tosses, and senior Katie Adlam went 3-for-4 at the line down the stretch to close out the Tigers.

Ernst accounted for nearly half of the Ladies' offense with 31 points, six more than her previous personal best. She hit 13-of-21 (61.9 percent) shots and added ten rebounds as part of her second double-double of the season.

With Ernst packing so much scoring punch, Hirt was the only other Lady to reach double-digits. She tallied 13 points behind a perfect 6-of-6 effort at the free-throw stripe.

Kenyon will put its five-game winning streak on the line Saturday at Hiram College. The 2 p.m. NCAC tilt against the Terriers will be the Ladies' last game before breaking for finals and the holidays.