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Kenyon College Athletics

Cooke_Claudia_5WBK23
Graham Stokes
59
Winner DePauw DPU 5-3,1-0 NCAC
32
Kenyon Kenyon 2-6,0-1 NCAC
Winner
DePauw DPU
5-3,1-0 NCAC
59
Final
32
Kenyon Kenyon
2-6,0-1 NCAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
DePauw DPU 15 19 14 11 59
Kenyon Kenyon 9 7 7 9 32

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Cooke leads all scorers as Owls fall to Tigers

GAMBIER, Ohio – Senior center Claudia Cooke led all scorers with 18 points on Saturday afternoon as the Kenyon College Owls took on the DePauw University Tigers for the squad's first North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) matchup of the 2023-2024 season. 

Despite Cooke's hearty outing, turnovers and missed shots in the middle quarters led the Owls to the team's sixth loss of the season, falling 32-59.

Cooke, who entered the game as Kenyon's (2-6, 0-1 NCAC) leading scorer by a margin of 82 points, wasted no time getting her first buckets of the contest, leading the Owls with six straight points to put the team down 8-6 midway through the first quarter. 

After DePauw (5-3, 0-1 NCAC) hit a three and two free throws on its next two possessions, Kenyon had to respond, and sophomore guard Alyssa Gest did just that in her season-debut, nailing a three to cut the lead to 11-9 after a great dish by Mikayla Rudolph. As the first quarter came to a close, the Owls were down 15-9, but shot the ball well, hitting 40 percent from the field. 

In the opening seconds of the second quarter, Rudolph hit a three pointer to cut even further into the Tigers lead. However, for the rest of the period, Kenyon hit just 21.43 percent of its shots from the field, allowing DePauw to open up a 20-point advantage. Not giving in, Cooke and Rudolph each found the basket as the half came to a close, but the Owls faced a 34-16 deficit after 20 minutes. 

After the break, Cooke and Gest opened up the quarter by combining for seven points, but it was not enough to keep up with the fast-paced Tigers' offense. That coupled with the pesky DePauw defense that forced 21 turnovers on the day led to the Owls trailing 48-23 after three.

To close the game, it was the Owls' turn to make a stand on defense, holding the Tigers to its lowest point total of any quarter. On the day, the Kenyon defense caused 12 turnovers with three blocks and five steals. In the quarter, Cooke, Alexis Newman, and Anissa Hardy all found the hoop, and shot 30 percent from the field as a team, but the Owls ultimately fell 32-59.

Cooke's game-leading statline included 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting and hitting 4-of-5 at the charity stripe. She added in four rebounds and two blocks. Gest was next on the Owls stat-sheet as she hit two threes for six points. Rudolph added five for the offense, Newman had two points and tied with a game-high three assists, and Hardy led the team with seven rebounds. 

The loss drops the Owls to 2-6 on the year and 0-1 in the NCAC. The team has a quick turnaround and is back in action tomorrow, Sunday, December 10th, to face the Allegheny College Gators at 2:00 pm from Tomsich Arena. 

 
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