Box Score
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Nearly everything went right for the Kenyon College women's basketball team in their 81-52 road win against Case Western Reserve University, Tuesday night. The Ladies lit up Horsburgh Gymnasium with shooting percentages over 50 percent while also featuring a defense that created 12 steals and held the hosts shooting efforts in check. The win boosts Kenyon's record to 3-2 overall heading into this weekend's 29th Annual Jim Meagle Turkey Shoot Tournament, hosted by Marietta College.
The Spartans sprung out to a 10-4 lead but that marked the point where the Ladies got the ball rolling. Kenyon scored the next 12 points in a row, hitting from all angles with five different scorers making their mark on the score sheet. Led by three-pointers from Maggie Boelter and Maureen Hirt, the Ladies gained a six-point advantage before Autumn Anderson worked her magic down low with back-to-back two-point makes to increase the Ladies' lead to eight, 20-12. Hirt then continued her hot hand with consecutive three-pointers, then totaling three of her five long-range makes on the night, leading to the Ladies taking a 14-point lead into the half.
Hirt's two remaining threes came as part of Kenyon building its lead to 21 points, but it did not stop there. The points kept coming in bunches as the Ladies built their lead to as many as 28 points until Sidney Cera added a pair of free throws to escalate the game-high lead to 30 with under a minute to go.
Kenyon (3-2) turned around its recent fortunes by putting together two consistent halves of shooting against Case Western Reserve. As a team, they hit 53.3 percent of their shots in the first half and then came back in the second to hit 54.5 percent of their attempts. From behind the arc, Kenyon went 8-for-17 (.471) behind a 5-for-8 performance by Hirt.
It was not all offense for the Ladies as they held Case Western Reserve to just 52 points and under 35 percent shooting from all areas of the floor. Despite Berit Eppard ending her night with a team-high 17 points, no other Spartan player scored more than seven points. Case Western Reserve hurt itself with 18 turnovers, resulting in 16 Kenyon points.
Kenyon's defense, led by Lauren Kriete and Meredith Williams each racking up four steals. Kriete also added one of Kenyon's two blocks. The team pressured the Spartans into shooting just 32 percent overall for the game and just 22.2 percent from distance. Case Western Reserve did not help itself at the free throw line, hitting just 64.3 percent.
Hirt led the Ladies in scoring with 21 points, going a combined 8-for-14 from the field. She also added four assists, three rebounds, and two steals. She was one of four Ladies to hit double figures in scoring. Autumn Anderson scored 16 points while shooting a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. Williams finished with 14 points in her first start of the season, also having a perfect day from the line. Boelter was the final Kenyon player to score 10 or more, ending the night with 12 points. Boelter, Kriete, and Anderson all brought down a team-high five rebounds, as well.
The Ladies will come back out of the Thanksgiving break to play in the 29th Annual Jim Meagle Turkey Shoot Tournament, hosted by Marietta College. They will open up against Ohio Valley University on Nov. 30 at 7:30 p.m. and then follow by playing either Marietta or the College of Mount St. Joseph the following.