GAMBIER, Ohio – Kenyon's use of the foul line in the fourth quarter helped the Ladies earn a 48-46 North Coast Athletic Conference win against Denison University (4-4, 0-1 NCAC) on Saturday at Tomsich Arena. The victory improved Kenyon to 6-1 and 2-0 in conference play while helping the team match its best start since 2012-13.
The Ladies were outstanding at the free throw line hitting 11-of-13 (84.6%) while watching the Big Red hit just half of its 14 attempts. In the final quarter alone, Kenyon shot 8-of-9 from the charity stripe to hold on for victory.
Jessica Gerber scored in double figures for the fifth straight game as she tallied a team-high 12. Kenyon also saw
Griffin Tullis,
Lane Davis and
Paige Matijasich score nine each. Matijasich also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
Denison got out to a 4-0 lead nearly two minutes into the game as Aliyah Hunter scored a jumper and Brittany Atkinson added two free throws. The Ladies responded with six straight points which was capped off by a Davis layup. Later, with the score tied at nine, Kenyon hit a 7-2 run to take a 16-11 lead after the first period.
Sharon Hull's jumper ended the team's first-quarter scoring effort.
In the second, the Ladies maintained their lead and went up as many as 11 points. Matijasich's three-ball from the right wing moved the home team up 29-18 with 2:24 left and they took a 29-22 break into halftime. Kenyon was pretty efficient in the first half shooting nearly 42 percent while holding Denison to 32 percent.
Nothing much changed in the third quarter as Gerber extended Kenyon's lead to 10 points on two occasions. Her three-pointer at 4:45 moved the score to 36-26 and later a jumper at the 2:18 mark made the count 38-28. By the end of three, it was 40-33 Ladies.
The final period saw the Big Red nearly steal a win. Kenyon did itself no favors as they missed every field-goal attempt (0-for-13) while Denison scored five buckets. With 4:08 left, the Big Red's Valesha Province sank a three-pointer to bring the score to 43-42. On the next Denison possession, Isabella Luaces scored a layup to give Denison its first lead since the opening quarter, 44-43.
After that though, the Ladies hit two free throws, each from Tullis and Matijasich moving the home team back up 47-46. Denison had two more possessions to take the lead, but neither attempt from Alison Schafer and Brittany Atkinson rang true with Tullis blocking Atkinson's attempt with three seconds left.
Next on the schedule for the Ladies is a road date on December 6 at Allegheny College (3-3, 1-1 NCAC) at 6 p.m.
