GAMBIER, Ohio – Led by
Paige Matijasich's career-high 27 points, the Kenyon Ladies basketball team overcame a halftime deficit and outscored Bethany College 46-26 in the third and fourth quarters en route to a 73-59 non-conference win at Tomsich Arena.
The victory, Kenyon's third in a row, moved the team's early-season record to 4-1 while the Bison dropped to 0-4.
Matijasich's 10-of-12 (83.3%) shooting tied for the fourth-highest, single-game field-goal percentage total in Ladies history. Additionally,
Sharon Hull contributed 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting while
Jessica Gerber scored in double figures for the fourth time this season with 14 points and a game-high six assists. As a team, the Ladies shot 50 percent, including a 57 percent mark (16-of-28) in the third and fourth periods.
It was a tussle early on for both teams as there were three ties and a pair of lead changes. Bethany used a 7-0 run to take control into the second quarter. Leading 10-9 after a Matijasich jumper, the Bison got started with a three-ball from Haylie Glass. Ashley Duthie added two more free throws before Makayla Reynolds closed the run.
Trailing 17-12 to start the second, Kenyon responded with a 7-0 run of its own to take a 19-17 lead after
Ifeoma Archimalo scored at the 7:45 mark. Matijasich later drained a three-pointer to move Kenyon up 24-19, however, the Bison responded with a huge 14-3 run to close the half. Fallon Nicholson scored seven of those points and Bethany led 33-27 at the break.
In the third, Kenyon dominated, outscoring Bethany 23-10 while holding the visitors to 3-for-16 shooting. During the period, the Ladies had a 17-1 run to start, and went up double-digits (44-34) with 3:19 left after
Griffin Tullis hit a free throw. The closest Bethany got was six points the remainder of the quarter.
Kenyon maintained its hold in the fourth and went up as many as 12 points on jumpers from Hull and Matijasich, along with free throws from Gerber. During the final two periods, the Ladies' defense picked it up and held the visitors to just 25.8 percent shooting.
Next on the schedule for Kenyon is its North Coast Athletic Conference opener on November 29 at 8 p.m. against Wittenberg University at Tomsich.
