GAMBIER, Ohio (February 20, 2012) For the eighth consecutive season, the Kenyon College women's basketball program earned the right to host a first-round game in the North Coast Athletic Conference's postseason tournament. The Ladies, this year's No. 3-seeded tournament team, will entertain the Hiram College Terriers, the No. 6-seed, Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in Tomsich Arena.

Kenyon completed the 2011-12 regular season with an 18-7 overall record and an 11-5 NCAC mark. Two of those wins came against Hiram, a team that currently possesses a 9-16 overall record and a 5-11 conference record. Back on December 17, Kenyon won its home game against Hiram, 63-40. On January 14, the Ladies headed to Hiram to hand the Terriers a 69-64 defeat. Over the teams' last 20 meetings, Kenyon holds a 19-1 record. In NCAC postseason action, Kenyon is 2-0 against the Terriers.

The Ladies feature a trio of game-changing players. At the top of that list is sophomore Maureen Hirt, who leads Kenyon, as well as the entire NCAC, with a scoring average of 18.3 points per game. She's deadly from both the free throw line and from beyond the three-point arc. She leads the conference and ranks among the nation's best in free throw percentage (87.0) and three-pointers made per game (3.28).

While Hirt normally strikes from the outside, Morgan Korinek and Kayla Ernst own the paint. Korinek, a senior, enters the postseason with averages of 13.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. She currently ranks fifth all-time at Kenyon with 1,214 career points and ranks second all-time with 766 career rebounds. She's also Kenyon's career record-holder with 231 career steals. Ernst, a junior, will check into Tuesday's contest with averages of 14.2 points per game and 3.8 rebounds per game. She's recorded double-digit scoring marks for the past 12 consecutive contests.

As a team, Kenyon ranks second in the NCAC in scoring offense (67.2 ppg) and third in scoring defense (58.5 ppg). The Ladies top the league in both free throw percentage (.739) and field goal percentage (.442).

Hiram's strengths lie in the three-point game. The Terriers bury an average of 6.3 treys per game, the best mark in the conference. They also defend the long ball well, holding opponents to just a .277 shooting average from long distance.

On an individual basis, the Terriers are led by senior guard Tiffany Shields, who pumps in 12.8 points per game and grabs 5.6 rebounds per game. She is one of five Terriers to notch 20 or more three-pointers this season.

As mandated by the conference office, the price of admission for Tuesday's game is $7 for adults and $5 for children and visiting students with a college identification card. Kenyon students will be admitted free with their IDs.