GAMBIER, Ohio – The Kenyon College women's basketball team shot a season-best 48.9 percent (23-of-47) Wednesday night, but 23 turnovers spoiled any chance at victory. The host Wittenberg University Tigers wound up scoring 21 points off those turnovers and downed the Ladies, 62-59.

The loss for the Ladies drops their records to 6-17 overall and 4-11 within North Coast Athletic Conference play. It also locks them into the seventh-place position in the conference standings. That means they'll play on the road, likely at Wittenberg again or at Oberlin College, in the first round of the NCAC Tournament, which begins next Tuesday.

Kenyon put together a solid first half Wednesday, shooting 52.4 percent (11-of-21) and building a 30-25 halftime lead. Senior guard Sarah Hobbs had seven points in the first 20 minutes and sophomore post Charlotte Bussema added six.

Wittenberg (19-6, 11-4 NCAC) jumped out to early leads of 13-6 and 18-10, but Kenyon scored 12 straight points in a span of seven minutes. Bussema, Hobbs, and Lauren Kriete all had three points in the run, which put the Ladies in front, 22-18, with 4:41 showing on the clock. The Tigers then reclaimed the lead, but Kenyon closed out the half with three more points from Bussema and a three-point bucket from sophomore Miranda Diesz.

In the second half, Bussema tossed in the first four points, giving Kenyon its largest lead at 34-25. Wittenberg then cranked up the defensive pressure, forced 13 Kenyon turnovers in the half, and slowly chipped away at the Ladies' lead. At the 9:56 mark, the teams were all square at 47-47. The teams moved on to tie things up at 50 and 55, too.

With 4:12 left, Wittenberg's Darbie Zirkle drilled a three-pointed that gave the Tigers the lead for good. Kriete and Hobbs hit clutch buckets in the waning minutes, but Wittenberg tallied field goals from Michelle Brunswick and Katelyn Haralamos to maintain its three-point margin.

Sophomore guard Sidney Cera led the Ladies in scoring with 15 points. She was 6-of-8 overall and 2-of-3 from three-point range. The rest of the Ladies combined were just 3-of-13 from beyond the arc. Bussema wound up with a career-high 12 points and Hobbs finished with 11.

Zirkle led all scorers with 19 points. Enri Small chucked in 17 and Haralamos added a dozen for the Tigers.

Kenyon will wrap up its regular-season schedule Saturday with a Senior Day game in Tomsich Arena against The College of Wooster.