GAMBIER, Ohio – The 20th-ranked (WBCA) DePauw University women's basketball team prevailed 45-42 in a highly-competitive game against Kenyon College on Saturday afternoon at Tomsich Arena.
 
Through the four quarters of action, there were 10 lead changes and four ties. Additionally, neither team held a lead bigger than five points.
 
Sharon Hull had Kenyon's hot hand as she tallied a game-high and season-high 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Junior Paige Matijasich added 11 but struggled finding her usual shooting touch as she went 2-for-12 from the field. Rounding out Kenyon's top scorers was Lane Davis who added 11 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.
 
Both defenses were very hard to score on, as DePauw's 45-point total was a season-low while Kenyon's 42 were the second fewest.
 
In the opening quarter, Claire Keefe score the first two buckets before the Ladies responded with shots from Davis and Hull. The lead changed hands five more times after Hull's make as DePauw took an 11-10 lead following a jumper from Campbell Montgomery.
 
Freshman Grace Connery moved the Ladies back in front in the second as her 14th three-ball of the year at 7:53 gave Kenyon a 13-11 advantage. The Tigers, though, scored on consecutive possessions after that and never lost their advantage the rest of the period. By halftime, DePauw led 22-21.
 
About midway through the third, Davis' and-one conversion tied the game at 36-36. However, over the final 5:27 of the quarter, the Ladies turned the ball over twice and missed all five of their looks. On the other side, DePauw scored four more to take a 30-26 lead into the final period.
 
After a Keefe jumper early in the fourth, the Ladies trailed 32-27, the biggest advantage of the game for either team. That's when Kenyon fought back.
 
Matijasich hit two free throws and then Hull followed with back-to-back three-pointers to push the home team up 36-32 with under eight minutes to go. Davis added another shot at 6:32 to move Kenyon up 38-34 but the Tigers would clamp down after that, limiting Kenyon to just 1-of-6 shooting down the stretch.
 
In those final six minutes, Sydney Kopp hit the go-ahead jumper to make the score 41-40 and Maya Howard added a couple free throws pushing the tally to 43-40. The Ladies did come up with a stop on DePauw's final possession but Kenyon was unable to get the tying three-point attempt in the final seconds.
 
The Ladies will hit the road for their next game on December 5 at Oberlin College. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.