HIRAM, Ohio –
Paige Matijasich scored the first six points of the game,
Griffin Tullis tacked on a three-pointer and the Kenyon College Ladies basketball team never looked back during Saturday's 54-44 road win against the Hiram College Terriers.
The result signaled the end of the regular season for both teams. Kenyon will next host a North Coast Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinal game Tuesday night against The College of Wooster. The Ladies will enter that game as the tournament's No. 2-seeded team with a 20-5 overall record and a 13-3 NCAC record.
The loss dropped Hiram to 11-13 overall and 7-9 in NCAC play. The Terriers will go into the conference tournament as the No. 5-seeded team and will travel to Wittenberg University for their quarterfinal contest.
As Saturday's game unfolded, Matijasich slowed down a bit offensively, but she still wound up leading the Ladies with seven rebounds and 17 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the floor and 6-for-7 shooting at the free throw line. It was the 14th time this season Matijasich led the Ladies in the scoring department.
Tullis ended up with 10 points and six rebounds for Kenyon.
Jessica Gerber tossed in eight points and
Sharon Hull added seven. Gerber also had a team-high four assists, while Hull was one of four Kenyon players with five rebounds.
The Ladies' quick start blossomed into a 15-9 lead after one quarter and a 28-18 lead after two. Matijasich had nine points by the half and Tullis had seven.
In the third quarter, the Ladies put the game away with a 13-0 run that covered about six minutes and pushed a 33-24 lead out to a 46-24 lead. That 22-point margin was the largest of the game. During the run, Matijasich and Gerber tallied five points apiece.
Hiram never got closer than nine points the rest of the way, as the Kenyon defense held the Terriers to just 26.7 percent shooting (16-for-60) and that included a dreadful 7.7 percent (2-for-26) performance from three-point range.
Jazmine Scott was Hiram's top scorer with 14 points. Allison Vannoy added 12. Erica Johnson scored just five, but led all players with 15 rebounds.
