DELAWARE, Ohio – The Kenyon College women's basketball team erased a 14-point deficit Wednesday night at Branch Rickey Arena, but ran out of gas in the fourth quarter as the host Battling Bishops of Ohio Wesleyan University held on for a 59-55 win.

The victory pushed Ohio Wesleyan to 13-11 overall and 8-7 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC). It also secured a home game for the Battling Bishop's in next week's NCAC Tournament.

On the other side of the floor, the loss halted Kenyon's win streak at three games and dropped the Ladies to 10-14 overall and 6-9 in the NCAC. If the Ladies win their final game of the regular season, a home contest against Allegheny College on Saturday, they'll head right back to Ohio Wesleyan for a first-round tournament rematch with the Battling Bishops.

The Ladies got off to a sluggish start, shooting 31.0 percent (9-of-29) and scoring just 25 points in the first half of play. Ohio Wesleyan fired in shots at a rate of 57.9 percent (11-of-19), went ahead by as many as 14 points in the second quarter and took an 11-point lead into halftime.

Kenyon came back with the first five points of the third quarter to narrow its deficit to six. Sophomore Grace Connery, who scored three of those first five points on a three-pointer, later connected on another long ball to bring the Ladies with three points late in the third.

At the start of the fourth quarter, Connery connected from long range again, giving the Ladies a 45-44 lead, their first lead since early in the first quarter. As the Ladies were making their move, their aggressive approach on the defensive end put players in foul trouble.

As a team, Kenyon committed 22 fouls. Three players finished with four fouls and two others finished with three. The Battling Bishops took full advantage, going 22-of-26 (84.6 percent) at the free throw line.

After Connery's three-pointer at the 9:15 mark of the final quarter, the Ladies offense nearly went six minutes without scoring another point. Ohio Wesleyan didn't do much better, though, scoring just four points in that same span.

Over the final three minutes of the game, the Battling Bishops made six consecutive free throws and mixed in layups from Cierra Joiner and Claire Sterling to pull away. Kenyon did have a chance to tie the game with 10 seconds left, but a three-pointer went off the mark.

Ellie Schaub led Kenyon with 15 points and six rebounds. Paige Matijasich, who dealt with foul trouble, scored 13 points and matched Schaub's six boards. Connery was 3-for-5 from outside the arc and finished with nine points.

Sterling led all scorers, pumping in 23 points for the Battling Bishops. Joiner tacked on 13 and Molly Delaney chipped in with 10.