Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – A quick start for Wittenberg University proved to be the difference Wednesday night at Pam Evans Smith Arena. The host Tigers opened an early 12-point lead and, for the most part, maintained that margin throughout a 61-47 victory over the visiting Kenyon College Ladies.

Kenyon (9-7, 4-4 NCAC) connected on three of its first four field goal attempts and held a lead for about three minutes of play. After that, things quickly went south for the Ladies, who missed their next eight shots and turned the ball over four times in a rough patch that lasted about six minutes. During that same span, Wittenberg rattled off 16 straight points to open up an 18-6 lead.

Following that one-sided surge from Wittenberg (10-6, 5-3 NCAC), the teams played evenly for the rest of the game. Kenyon got as close as six points later in the first half and Wittenberg, which moved ahead 32-17 at halftime, built leads as big as 16 points in the second half. The Tigers protected their lead in that second stanza by knocking down their free throws. Over the last 20 minutes of play, Kenyon was 3-of-4 at the line, while Wittenberg was 10-of-14. A huge chunk of that output was created by junior wing Heather Schroeder, who was 8-of-10 at the stripe in the second half and 11-of-13 overall. She finished with a game-high 21 points and six assists for the Tigers.

Nearly every other statistical analysis of the game came up even. Kenyon shot 20-of-56 (35.7 percent) from the field and just 2-of-14 (14.3 percent) from three-point range. Wittenberg was 21-of-57 (36.8 percent) overall and just 4-of-18 (22.2 percent) from long range. The Tigers held a slim 39-38 lead on the boards and turnovers evened out at 11 apiece.

In the scoring department for Kenyon, senior Maureen Hirt was the only player in double figures. She scored 15. Freshman Miranda Diesz added eight points and sophomore Meredith Williams chipped in with six. Williams also dished out three assists and Maggie Boelter grabbed a team-high seven rebounds for Kenyon, which was held to its lowest scoring total of the season.

The Ladies will try to get back to their winning way Saturday, when they travel to Hiram College to take on the Terriers (4-13, 0-8 NCAC) in a 2 p.m. contest.