Box Score GAMBIER, Ohio – The Kenyon College women's basketball game against Ohio Wesleyan University started out slowly Saturday afternoon, but turned into an intense nail biter in which the Ladies managed to hold off the upset-minded Battling Bishops, 63-58.

From the opening tip, Kenyon (14-4, 8-1 NCAC) just could not get in a rhythm. Ohio Wesleyan (4-13, 3-5 NCAC) forced ten Ladies' turnovers and basically took sharpshooter Maureen Hirt out of the game. Hirt, who averaged just over 17 points per game for the Ladies, played just seven minutes of the first half and was held scoreless. Sophomore Sarah Hobbs did an admirable job filling in for Hirt and knocked down a couple of early three-pointers to give Kenyon a 12-6 lead about seven minutes into the game.

The Ladies pushed that lead out to as many as nine points in the first half, but Ohio Wesleyan came charging back and whittled its deficit down to two points (28-26) at the half.

Things didn't change too much in the second half, as the Ladies struggled to shake the scrappy OWU team. The Battling Bishops even forged ahead to claim a 42-40 lead with 12:49 left in the game. Over the next seven minutes of play the two teams tied things up five different times.

It really wasn't until the very end of the game that Kenyon was able to create a little breathing room. Trailing 58-56, the Ladies looked to leading scorer Kayla Ernst,  who buried a three-pointer with 3:06 left. Later, with just 15 seconds showing on the clock, Ernst converted an uncontested layup. While the Kenyon defense held Ohio Wesleyan to just one field goal over the final five minutes, Hirt polished off the game with a pair of free throws.

Even though Hirt was held to a season-low five points, her clutch free throws extended her streak to nine straight at the line and improved her season free-throw shooting percentage to a conference-best .933. Ernst ended up leading all Kenyon scorers with 20 points, while Hobbs, a sophomore, finished with ten and junior Maggie Boelter tallied nine. Boelter also had seven assists and now leads the conference with 85 on the season.

Ohio Wesleyan was able to put a scare in Kenyon thanks mainly to the scoring of Mary Corbett, who finished with a game-high 23 points. Coming into the contest, Corbett averaged just 5.1 points per game, but she was able to get hot against the Ladies and managed to sink 4-of-5 three-pointers.

Kenyon now has the week off and will next travel to Allegheny College on Saturday to take on the Gators for the first time this season.