GAMBIER, Ohio – Junior Griffin Tullis scored a career-best 18 points on Tuesday night as the Kenyon Ladies basketball team advanced in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament with a 61-46 win over Wittenberg University.
 
The victory sets up a semifinal contest against rival Denison University on February 24 at 7 p.m. on the campus of DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana.
 
Kenyon led from start to finish, but Witt's use of the free throw line kept the visitors in the game before the Ladies pulled away in the fourth.
 
First-quarter action saw Kenyon score five shots in the paint and attain a 10-4 lead after Ifeoma Archimalo's layup at the 4:15 mark. That lead ballooned to 10 points at the end as Jessica Gerber drilled a three-point shot from the top of the arc with 15 seconds left. Kenyon led 18-8 after one and hit 7-of-11 from the field (63.6%) while holding Witt to just 1-of-14 shooting.

 
In the second stanza, the Tigers actually outscored the Ladies for just the second time in the previous 10 quarters. Riley McDonald hit a jumper at 5:53 bringing the score to 20-15. About four minutes later, Haley Dannemiller hit a long jumper and once again cut the deficit to five, 24-19. The Tigers were also able to hit 5-of-6 from the foul line to aid their efforts. Paige Matijasich provided the final point in the period with a free throw with 1:15 left giving the home team a 25-19 lead.
 
Kenyon got out to another double-digit advantage (32-22) a little over three minutes into the third before Wittenberg hit a long run.
 
An 8-0 stretch by the Tigers, with six points coming from Sydney Mayle, got Witt to within two, 32-30, with 3:38 left. Kenyon didn't lose its lead though and by the end of the quarter led 43-36 after a pair of free throws from Sidney Cera.
 
In the final quarter, Kenyon's defense and a solid offensive showing shut the door on the Tigers. After Alex Kiess' three-pointer with 7:42 left brought the score to 48-43, Kenyon held Witt to six straight misses and saw its lead increase to 57-43 following a Bailey Dominguez layup on the fast break at 3:24.
 
After starting the fourth with 3-of-3 shooting, Witt hit just one of its next 11 attempts.
 
Archimalo continued her recent steady play for Kenyon contributing 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Miranda Diesz added eight points, a game-high six assists and pulled down five boards while Cera chipped in with four points, five dimes and grabbed a career-high seven rebounds.