CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Playing their second and final game at the 2023 Lauren Hill Tip-Off Classic, a tournament hosted by Mount St. Joseph University, the Kenyon College women's basketball team was looking to bounce back against Wilmington College. The Owls started strong in the matchup of two 0-1 teams looking for their first victory of the season, but the Quakers turned the tide and secured a 73-55 win.

The Owls and Quakers went back and forth in the first quarter as the teams were knotted up at 11 points apiece midway through the opening period. Mikayla Rudolph converted an and-one that ignited a 12-3 Kenyon run featuring a Grace Murphy triple, an Anissa Hardy hook shot, and four Claudia Cooke free throws, while Wilmington shot 0-3 from the field. 

Kenyon led 23-14 after the spurt, but Wilmington kept the Owls from extending the margin to double-digits. Still, Kenyon carried a 25-18 lead into quarter number two after Cooke served up nine first-period points.

Though the same teams went out on the floor for the second quarter, the period was practically a different game. After shooting just 5-16 (31.3 percent) in the first, the Quakers connected on 10-of-19 second-quarter shots, a 52.6 percent clip. Conversely, Kenyon's shooting dropped from 43.8 percent (7-16) in the first to just 16.7 (2-12) in the second. The flipped script saw the Quakers outscore the Owls 24-6 in the period and take an 11-point, 42-31, lead and the momentum into the halftime break.

Coming out of the locker room, Kenyon held Wilmington to just a 6-24 (25 percent) clip from the field, including a 0-11 mark from downtown, in the third frame. However, the Quakers still made two more field goals on 11 more attempts as the Owls shot 4-13 (30.8 percent) overall and 0-4 from deep, and Wilmington extended its lead to 60-43 with one more 10-minute quarter to go.

Rudolph knocked down a trifecta to get the Owls off on the right foot to start the final frame, and Kenyon again outshot Wilmington in the fourth, going 4-11 (36.4 percent) compared to 5-15 (33.3 percent), but the Quakers outscored the Owls 13-12 and clinched a 73-55 victory.

Cooke led Kenyon for a second straight game, scoring a game-high 19 points and tying for a game-high with 12 rebounds to tally her 16th career double-double. The senior added two blocks and a steal while hitting nine of 11 free throws, her second straight game with double-digit attempts from the line.

Hardy, her fellow frontcourt focal point, scored a career-high 14 points and tied Cooke with a dozen rebounds, marking the fourth double-double of the sophomore's career. Hardy also blocked two shots and added an assist.

Rudolph, a sophomore, scored 11 points to give the Owls three double-digit scorers, and she chipped in five rebounds and a game-best five assists in a game-high 34 minutes. Bela Krslovic, a senior, hit two triples en route to eight points, while Murphy made a three to go down as one of Kenyon's five scorers.

Neither team shot well from the floor, but both squads were above 80 percent at the free-throw line. Kenyon went 17-54 (31.5 percent) overall and 4-20 (20 percent) from three-point territory, while Wilmington had similar results. The Quakers took significantly more shots after 18 steals and 24 Owls turnovers while giving it away just five times. Wilmington made 26-of-76 (34.2 percent) field goals and 6-of-33 (18.2 percent) threes, and four Quakers scored in double figures, with Keetyn Hupp's 18 points leading the way. Cassidy Lovett stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, seven rebounds, seven steals, and four assists.

Kenyon will be looking for its first win when the Owls return home to host the Capital University Comets at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, November 15, in Tomsich Arena.