CHICAGO – The 18th-ranked University of Chicago (4-2) hit above 54 percent from the field and from downtown in the first two quarters to support the Maroons in their 89-74 win over the Kenyon College Ladies basketball team on Sunday during the Midway Classic at Ratner Athletics Center.
Kenyon (3-3) had a fast start to Sunday's game, scoring the first seven points on shots from
Grace Connery,
Ellie Schaub and
Paige Matijasich. Following the early Ladies' run, UChicago got in gear.
Taylor Lake tied the game at 9-9 with her layup at 5:42 and two possessions later, Mia Farrell drained a three-ball tying the scoreboard at 12. After that shot by Chicago, the home squad closed the final 4:11 by hitting 5-of-9 from the field and sinking all four free throw attempts.
Leading 29-20 at the start of the second, the Maroons went on a game-changing run. By the 5:33 mark, the hosts had attained a 45-27 lead. Miranda Burt had six of those points while Lake added five. The Ladies could not keep pace in that span, going 3-for-9 from the field while committing a couple of turnovers.
By halftime, Chicago had shot 54.3 percent (19-of-25) from the field, 9-of-16 (56.3) from three-point land and led 56-40. They also made all nine free throw attempts. Burt and Lake led that charge by tallying 17 and 11 points, respectively.
After the break, the Ladies fought back in the third and early in the fourth to make it a single-digit deficit game. In the third, Kenyon outscored Chicago 16-12 as four different players scored led by Matijasich's five points.
Then in the fourth, Schaub's layup at 8:44 brought the tally to 70-62. Kenyon scored on two of the next three possessions to make it a pair of nine-point affairs; however, it could not get any closer as Burt pushed the Maroons back up double-digits (78-66) with a three-ball at 6:25. By game's end, Burt had knocked down 8 three-pointers, a single-game record for Chicago.
Matijasich led the Ladies with 24 points and nine rebounds while Connery (19) and Schaub (18) also hit double-figures. For Connery, it was a career-best.
Kenyon will have another game before Thanksgiving, its fourth in the last six days. On Tuesday, the Ladies will visit University of Mount Union (4-1).
