GAMBIER, Ohio – Kenyon College senior Paige Matijasich tallied 20 points Wednesday night, but the rest of the Ladies basketball team struggled to score during a 52-41 home loss to the Oberlin College Yeowomen in the North Coast Athletic Conference opening game of the season.

Kenyon's difficulties on the offensive end started almost immediately. After making their first bucket of the game, a Matijasich layup at the 9:01 mark, the Ladies made just one more field goal, a three-pointer from Grace Connery, throughout the remainder of first-quarter play.

The Ladies shot just 2-of-16 in the first quarter and not much changed in the second, as they went 3-for-11 over the next ten minutes. The good news for Kenyon was that Oberlin wasn't much better. The Yeowomen were 6-for-27 in the first half and got to the break with a slim 16-12 lead.

Action picked up in the third quarter and the Ladies used the three-pointer to hang around. Connery opened the half with a three-ball. A minute later, Katie Orefice hit one from long range and gave Kenyon an 18-17 lead with 7:44 showing on the clock. The Yeowomen answered with an 8-0 run, but Ladies didn't let them out of their sight. Orefice tacked on another three-pointer and the Ladies closed two within two points (31-29) at the end of the third quarter.

Oberlin then took control in the fourth, outscoring Kenyon 21-12. Matijasich opened the frame with a three-pointer to give Kenyon a one-point advantage, but Oberlin followed with a 9-0 tear to take a 40-32 lead. During the run, Jasmine Sorrells scored six of the Yeowomen's nine points.

Kenyon gave it one last go, using back-to-back buckets from Matijasich and Ellie Schaub to close within four points with 1:30 left. Oberlin, however, polished things off by scoring the game's last seven points, all at the free throw line.

Sorrells scored four of those last seven points and ended up leading all players with 21 points. She also grabbed 10 rebounds, as the Yeowomen built a decisive 53-33 advantage on the boards. Tyler Collins, who piled up a game-high 15 rebounds for Oberlin, led that effort.

Matijasich not only led Kenyon in points, but also in rebounds with six.

The Ladies shot 16-of-59 (27.1 percent) for the game and saw their overall record drop to 3-5. At the other end of the floor, Oberlin shot 18-of-55 (32.7 percent) and improved its overall record to 2-4.