GAMBIER, Ohio – Solid defense and clutch shooting from junior guard Sidney Cera powered the Kenyon College women's basketball team to a 55-51 North Coast Athletic Conference win over the Oberlin College Yeowomen on Wednesday night at Tomsich Arena.

Kenyon and Oberlin scratched and clawed through three quarters of tough defensive play on both ends of the court. The Kenyon defense forced the Yeowomen into 17 turnovers through those first three quarters. In that same time span, Oberlin blocked seven Ladies' shots and held Kenyon to just 31.8 percent shooting (14-of-44).

Baskets were so hard to come by that both teams scored just eight points in the first quarter. Kenyon pulled away in the second, going on a 12-0 run that included a pair of three-pointers from Bailey Dominguez, but Oberlin responded with an 11-0 run over the next six-and-a-half minutes to pull within 20-19 at the break.

Neither team led by more than three points in the third quarter and the score got knotted up for the four, fifth and sixth times. The last of those tied scores pushed the teams into the fourth quarter deadlocked at 34-34.

In the fourth, the Ladies moved ahead 44-38 following a layup from Charlotte Bussema and a three-pointer from Miranda Diesz. Oberlin again answered with brief spurt that tied game 46-46 with 3:12 left to play.Cera then took over the rest of the way out. At 2:55 she converted a layup and with just 44 seconds left, she dropped in a crucial three-ball from the top of the arc that put Kenyon ahead 51-47.
Oberlin went into fouling mode over the last few seconds and both Dominguez and Cera hit a pair of free throws to put the game away for the Ladies (13-6, 7-3 NCAC).

Cera finished with nine very important points and three assists, while Dominguez led all players with 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including a 5-of-8 showing from long range. Bussema finished with eight points and Ifeoma Archimalo added six points and a team-high six rebounds.

Oberlin (10-9, 4-6 NCAC) shot 48.8 percent (21-of-43) compared to a just 36.2 percent (21-of-58) for the Ladies, however, the Yeowomen coughed up the ball 22 times and Kenyon capitalized, scoring 25 points off those turnovers.

Abby Andrews led the Yeowomen with 16 points and Caroline Hamilton added 10. Kenyon's defense held Lindsey Bernhardt, Oberlin's leading scorer, to just two field goals and five points.

Kenyon will try to run its wins streak to five games when it heads to Allegheny College on Saturday to battle with the Gators in a 1 p.m. contest.