GAMBIER, Ohio – The Kenyon women's basketball team turned in arguably their best performance of the season on Monday as they defeated Case Western Reserve University 74-62 at Tomsich Arena.
 
Paige Matijasich and Grace Connery each reached season-high point totals as they tallied 24 points and 17, respectively. That duo also combined to hit 8-of-16 from downtown. Additionally, Ellie Schaub added 15 points, Jessica Gerber contributed six points and six assists and Lane Davis pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds. In all, 10 different players scored at least a point for Kenyon. 
 
After the third quarter, the Ladies (7-3) had built a 61-42 lead against the Spartans, a team that had entered with a top-50 offense (73.8 points per game) in NCAA Division III. Kenyon's offensive rebounding was a main reason for the massive margin.
 
In the first half alone, Kenyon had a plus-nine rebounding advantage (27-18) and a 10-0 offensive rebounding lead. That helped the home team with a 14-0 benefit in second-chance points.  

 
Following Emma Cain's free throw at 2:23 in the first quarter, Kenyon led 16-14. That prompted an 8-0 run to close the period. Freshman Amanda Carroll got the stretch going with an and-one conversion following an offensive rebound. Matijasich added a three-ball and then Gerber closed the quarter with a jumper.
 
In the second, Connery found fire as she hit four 3-pointers to help extend Kenyon's lead to as many as 17 points, 42-25, with about 90 seconds left. By half, Kenyon had a 42-28 lead.
 
After the break, the Ladies maintained their lead and extended it to as many as 21 points after Kiele Anderson sank a three-ball at the 2:04 mark.
 
The fourth quarter start for Kenyon, leading 61-42, did not go as well as it would have liked. Kara Hageman scored on three-straight possessions for Case and brought the score to 62-49 which prompted a Ladies timeout. After the quick break, Case scored twice more to make it an eight-point deficit, 62-54, following Emily Todd's three-ball.
 
Case Reserve never was able to get inside of eight points after that though. On the ensuing Kenyon possession, Gerber found Matijasich and the junior hit a three-pointer to push Kenyon up, 65-54.
 
On Wednesday, the Ladies will make a quick drive over to Mount Vernon Nazarene University for a 6 p.m. game.