HIRAM, Ohio – Hiram College's Kayla Yost was perfect from the field (7-of-7) and scored a game-high 23 points as the Terriers inched past Kenyon College, 56-52, on Saturday at Price Gymnasium. The victory moved Hiram into the fourth seed for next week's North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament while the loss didn't do any damage for the Ladies who remained the two seed.  
 
Kenyon (18-7, 12-4 NCAC) will next host Wittenberg University on February 21 at 7:00 p.m. for a tournament quarterfinal matchup at Tomsich Arena.
 
Miranda Diesz led the Ladies with a career-high 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting. She also added three assists. Lane Davis added eight points and six rebounds while Griffin Tullis contributed seven points, six rebounds and two blocks. As a team, Kenyon struggled from three-point range hitting 23.5 percent (4-17) while Hiram hit 7-of-15 (46.7).
 
Nearly four minutes into the game, Kenyon had gotten off to a good start. They hit four of its first six shots and got a 10-1 lead at 6:11 following a layup from Bailey Dominguez. But over the remainder of the quarter, Hiram outscored Kenyon 15-5 and took a 16-15 lead into the second. Yost scored nine of her team's 15 points during that span.
 
In the second, a Dana Perrotta three-ball with about two minutes left pushed Hiram ahead to its biggest margin, 30-23. Kenyon did close that gap by the end of the half as they went to the locker room down 31-27.
 
Kenyon battled back to tie the game in the third. With just under three minutes left, Paige Matijasich hit a jumper and knotted the contest at 36. A couple possessions later, senior Charlotte Bussema's layup allowed the Ladies to retake the lead at 38-37. That margin didn't last long though as Hiram got back in front on a three-pointer from Yost at the 1:20 mark and they took a 42-41 lead into the final quarter.
 
At four different points in the fourth, Kenyon had a lead.
 
Its last came with 55 seconds after Tullis sank two free throws and pushed the tally to 52-51. But on the next possession, Yost hit two free throws pushing Hiram back up two (53-52). Kenyon's next opportunity resulted in a turnover in the paint with 11 seconds left and after the Terriers got two more free throws, a Matijasich three-ball rimmed out ending any hope of overtime for Kenyon.