Box Score
GAMBIER, Ohio – In a pivotal match with serious North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament implications, the Kenyon College women's basketball team rose to the occasion at Tomsich Arena by defending their home court with an arsenal of three-point bombs. The Ladies were lights out from all areas of the court and flipped the script on one of the league's best defenses, guiding them to a 74-59 win over the Tigers. Kenyon now has a one-game advantage over Wittenberg in the race for the fourth seed in the upcoming conference tournament, which grants a first-round home contest.
Kenyon had one of its best shooting performances of the season from both the field and three-point range on Wednesday night. The Ladies started the game off by scoring its first 12 points all from behind the arc and off of the hand of a different player each time. The hot hand was contagious and lasted throughout the entire game. Maureen Hirt scorched the Tigers for a game-high 30 points, inching closer to the Kenyon all-time scoring record.
It was apparent that all was going the way of the Ladies when in the final 10 seconds of the first half, each team experienced a turnover and Avery Anderson hit a buzzer-beating bank shot to extend Kenyon's lead to 12 points. After Maggie Boelter was stripped of the ball, Riley McDonald began to go the other way with it but Sarah Hobbs had other ideas as she sprinted in and stole the ball back. With one move, Hobbs turned and heaved a pass to Anderson who was stationed about 15 feet away from the bucket. Anderson then turned and chucked her shot toward the cylinder, banking it in as the horn sounded.
Leading 40-28 coming out of the locker room, Kenyon was far from done on the offensive side of the ball. Hirt replicated her 15-point first half while Lauren Kriete went for 10 points without taking nearly any time away from the floor. She finished with 13 points, five rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Though Boelter did not score any points in the second half, she dished out four assists and pulled down four boards, helping the Ladies balloon their lead to as many as 25 points. She finished with just six points, but led the Ladies with seven rebounds and tied a season-high with nine assists.
Though Hirt stood out with her 7-for-10 shooting performance from behind the arc, the entire Ladies team displayed supreme accuracy in their shooting. From three-point range, Kenyon hit on 58.3 percent (14-24) of its attempts while shooting better than 50 percent from the field, as well. Their 14 three-pointers were the Ladies' second-most this season, just one off the pace of their season-high 15 makes set against Mount Vernon Nazarene University on Dec. 31. The Ladies achieved this against a Wittenberg defense that was ranked second in the NCAC and had allowed an average of just 54.9 points to its opponents.
Defensively speaking, the Ladies forced the Tigers into 22 turnovers and scored 27 points off of those miscues. Meredith Williams collected three steals and dished off a trio of assists to aid the effort. Hobbs also made her name known by applying defensive pressure and taking in three steals.
Avery Anderson battled and finished with nine points and two rebounds. She also played a key role in taking Wittenberg's post game away from them by teaming up to hold post players Taylore Bundy and Ali Miller to a combined four points, five rebounds, and five turnovers.
Amber Rice kept the Tigers in the ballgame with 18 points in the first half, but the senior fell silent in the second half after tallying just two points thereafter. Enri Small collected a career-high 18 points in just her seventh game of the season, all coming in the second half.
The win gives Kenyon (14-9, 9-6 NCAC) a one-game advantage over Wittenberg in the race for the final playoff spot that will grant a home game in its first postseason contest. The Ladies now have sole possession of the No. 4 seed for the NCAC Tournament with one game to play. Wittenberg (13-10, 8-7 NCAC) falls back to the No. 5 seed. Should Kenyon defeat the College of Wooster this Saturday, Jan. 22, they will host the fifth-seeded team in the first round of the tournament.
Hirt also brought herself 29 points closer to Kenyon's all-time scoring record. She came into Wednesday's game 59 points away from tying the mark, currently held by Ladies great Kim Graf '97 (1,794). Hirt now has 1,765 career points.
Tipoff for the regular season finale against the Fighting Scots is set for 2 p.m. at Timken Gymnasium. Wooster (7-16, 2-13 NCAC) is currently primed for the No. 8 seed in the tournament. Kenyon beat the Fighting Scots 70-61 on Jan. 18 at Tomsich Arena earlier this season.
