Over winter break, the Ladies’ basketball team stayed busy, competing in five games, where they went 0-5. Since then, the Ladies are 2-1, moving them to 5-13 for the year and 3-6 in the NCAC.

On Dec. 18, Kenyon lost to Case Western Reserve University 94-40. Despite some strong defensive stands, the Ladies couldn’t find an offensive rhythm, and the Spartans held the lead for the majority of the game.

After some time off, Kenyon competed at the Smokey Ballenger Classic at Otterbein University in two games on Dec. 29 and Dec. 30. At the four-team event, the Ladies first lost to the Albion College Britons (Mich.), who earned an 80-61 victory after a strong first-quarter run. The Ladies’ last game of the Classic ended in a 74-70 loss against Mount Saint Joseph University. Their defeat came despite Katie Orefice’s ’23 career highs of 29 points and 16 rebounds in the game.

On Jan. 12, Kenyon returned home to compete against Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU). Though the Ladies had a five-point lead going into the second half, the Battling Bishops prevailed as Kenyon lost their offensive rhythm, scoring only 21 points in the second half. OWU came away with an 82-62 victory.

Three days later, the Ladies very nearly defeated the Oberlin College Yeowomen on the road. Kenyon fought hard through an overtime period, but Oberlin ultimately overcame the underdog team 77-75 to remain undefeated at home.

Just after the start of spring semester, the Ladies were victorious against the Hiram College Terriers on Jan. 19. Kenyon’s 69-63 win came after each team held the lead several times. With two minutes left, the game was tied at 63. Greta Propp ’22 and Madelyn Anderson ’22 closed out the game by going 6-6 at the free-throw line. 

More recently, the Ladies fought hard this past Saturday to overcome the Allegheny College Gators with a 72-69 win. The Ladies started off the game strong by going on a 6-0 run. By the middle of the second quarter, Kenyon led 32-22 over Allegheny. The Ladies stumbled in the last three minutes of the half, going into the locker room only up by four. The Gators pounced on the opportunity, and they led the Ladies by a single point at the end of the third. With two minutes left in the fourth quarter, Orefice, who was later named NCAC Player of the Week, scored to knot the game at 66. After grabbing key rebounds, Orefice and Claudia Cooke ’24 both sank their pair of free throws to secure the win for the Ladies. 

On Wednesday, the Ladies were not able to keep up their momentum, falling to the College of Wooster by a score of 71-68. The Ladies led the Fighting Scots for the entire first half, and headed into halftime up 40-31. As the two teams returned from the break, Wooster began to claw back. The Ladies surrendered the lead in the waning minutes of the third quarter. The two teams traded the lead for much of the fourth quarter, before the Fighting Scots took the lead for good with just over three minutes remaining in the game. Grace Connery ’22 tied her season high in points with 21.

The Ladies next compete this Saturday against DePauw University in Tomsich Arena.