Kenyon Ladies basketball (18-4) entered the week riding a five-game winning streak before traveling to Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) to take on the one-win Battling Bishops and Oberlin College (16-6) at home.
The Ladies added to their streak after dismantling OWU by a score of 64-41. Kenyon came out of the gates firing on all cylinders, earning a 19-9 lead by the end of the first quarter. By halftime the Ladies increased that lead to 16.
The Ladies went into the matchup against OWU as the second-ranked defense in the conference, only giving up 52.6 points per game, and they continued to show their defensive prowess by only giving up 41 points. The Ladies created 19 points off of 17 OWU turnovers, which comes as no surprise as Kenyon ranks second in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) with a turnover margin of +2. The Ladies also committed 20 turnovers as a team. OWU was only able to get 12 points off of turnovers. This game was an aberration for Kenyon as they rank third in the NCAC in turnovers per game with only 14.3.
OWU outscored Kenyon in the third quarter, 16-14, marking the only period in which the Bishops outscored the Ladies. The Ladies capped off the game by scoring 17 points in the final quarter. Three of the starters Paige Matijasich ’20, Jessica Gerber ’19 and Lane Davis ’19 all scored in double digits in the team’s win. Davis also dished out four assists. The Kenyon bench proved to be too much for the Bishops, outscoring their opponents bench 17-2.
The Ladies followed up this win with another solid defensive performance, however, lost 47-39 to Oberlin College.
The first half was closely contested, but 10 points from Ellie Schaub ’21 led the Ladies to a 25-20 halftime lead. The Ladies defense came up big in the half, forcing seven steals and limiting the offensive opportunities of Oberlin.
In the final two quarters, despite another strong defensive game, the Ladies were outscored 27 to 14, as the offense only shot 26.8 percent from the field.
The Ladies strong defensive performance all season bodes well when looking toward the end of the season and the conference tournament. Currently, the Ladies sit in second place in the NCAC with an impressive conference record of 11-2 and 18-4 overall.
There are four games left in the regular season for the Ladies, as they attempt to capture their first NCAC regular season title in ten years. On Feb. 10, the Ladies will face off against DePauw on the Ladies Senior Day.