Box Score GAMBIER, Ohio – The Kenyon College women's basketball team did not possess its first lead until the opening possession of the second half, but once it did it was all Ladies from that point on.
Maggie Boelter scored 16 of her 21 points in the second stanza to help Kenyon overcome a slow start and defeat the Earlham College Quakers, 86-66.
Earlham broke out after the opening tip to score the game's first 10 points in succession, capitalizing off of three Kenyon turnovers. Kasin Spay and Bria Sneed led the charge for the Quakers through much of the first half, with Spay finished the half with 16 points and four three-balls. The Ladies trailed by as many as 11 points midway through the half, but slowly and surely began to heat up their play.
The Ladies got a little hop in their step and generated a 14-5 run to turn the tide toward the end of the half. Molly Rubin came in off of the bench and jumpstarted the run with five unanswered points. After Boelter nailed a jumper in the pain to make it a one-possession game, Spay turned in a three-pointer to quiet the crowd. However, Lauren Kriete answered her by spraying one of her own and regaining the momentum. Both team jostled through the final two minutes of the half but Maureen Hirt tied the game at 38 before both teams broke for the locker room.
Kenyon stormed out with seven straight points coming out of the break, all from Boelter who lit up a pair of threes and added a free throw make to help the Ladies jump out to a 45-38 lead. That marked their first lead of the game but wasn't the last time they'd enjoy the feeling. Earlham took a temporary lead twice more in the half, but never by more than a point and never long than the following possession. A 16-4 run in favor of the Ladies helped seal the deal and helped their lead mount until it hit its apex at 20 in the final seconds.
Kenyon (2-2) turned their shooting fortunes around in the second half, especially by going more with a short-range game. The Ladies only took four three-point shots in the second half, all coming from Boelter who hit three of those. The Ladies improved their shooting percentage from 41 percent in the first to 62.5 percent in the second, finishing just a shade under 50 percent for the game. Conversely, Earlham lost its touch and dropped its shooting marks by 14.5 percent from the first to second half.
Boelter led the Ladies with 21 points on a 7-of-10 shooting night from the field while adding three free throw makes. She also dished in six assists and a steal. She was one of six Ladies to hit double figures in the scoring column joined by Hirt (15), Rubin (11), and the trio of Autumn Anderson, Kriete, and Meredith Williams who all posted 10 points each.
Spay led all scorers with 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field for the Quakers. She, Sneed (13), and Lexi McFarland (11) all scored in double figures for the Quakers.
The Ladies will play next on Tuesday, Nov. 26 at Case Western Reserve University. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m.
