Earlier this season, the Kenyon women’s basketball team faced off Oberlin College, one of the best teams in the NCAC, and took them to overtime before suffering a tough loss. In the rematch on Wednesday night, the Kenyon Ladies did not have enough firepower to get past the Oberlin College Yeowomen. At 17-2, the Yeowomen have put together an incredibly strong season and continued their dominance at Tomsich Arena to cruise to an 82-49 victory.
The Yeowomen opened the game on an 8-0 run, but it did not take long for the Ladies to find a way to get themselves back into the game. Kenyon’s Grace Connery sank back-to-back three-point shots to pull the team within two points of Oberlin. The Yeowomen quickly took command again, largely on the backs of their smothering defense. Most impressively, they gave Kenyon’s top scorer, Katie Orefice, fits all quarter long. Orefice shot just 1-for-8 from the floor for the quarter, with the Yeowomen guarding her tight.
At the end of the first quarter, Oberlin led by a commanding score of 21-8. The Yeowomen shot a strong 52.9% for the quarter, accounting for the significant difference in score.
Playing with a big deficit, the Ladies were able to keep the game from getting out of hand in the second quarter thanks to strong three-point shooting from Madelyn Anderson, Bela Krslovic and Connery, who sank two more treys. For the quarter, the Ladies shot 4-for-7 from behind the arc. Krslovic’s shot brought the score to 33-24 and put Kenyon within single digits of Oberlin. The Yeowomen struck back with a 6-0 run to end the quarter, bringing the score to 39-24 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Kenyon continued to play Oberlin tight, continually trading buckets and staying within striking distance. However, the big lead created by the Yeowomen meant that a competitive quarter couldn’t move the needle when it came to the score of the game.
In the fourth quarter, the Yeowomen outscored Kenyon 22-5. At the final whistle, Oberlin owned a 33-point victory.
On the Ladies’ end, Connery was solid all game, leading all Kenyon scorers with 20 points, including six made three-pointers, while chipping in six rebounds, two steals and an assist. Anderson had eight points and dished out two assists, while Claudia Cooke grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
The loss dropped the Ladies to 6-16 on the season. The team will look to get back into the win column today when it travels to Granville to face rival Denison University. In their previous meeting this season, Kenyon lost in a close game, 66-59.
