This past week, the Kenyon women’s basketball team played just one game on the road against Oberlin College. The Owls fell to the Yeowomen 73-40, marking their ninth straight loss and moving their record to 2-15 (0-7 NCAC). 

The Owls got the scoring started with a jump shot from Alyssa Horsley ’28. However, Kenyon was unable to find the hoop again for the next five minutes of action, allowing Oberlin to go on an 18-0 run. Alexis Newman ’26 broke the Yeowomen’s streak with a free throw, but that was all the Owls could muster, and the first quarter came to a close with a score of 21-3. The Owls looked to make up some ground in the second quarter. Kenyon finally rediscovered some of its offensive mojo, scoring 14 points in the period, a huge improvement from the first quarter. The Owls went 5-13 on field goals and 2-6 from three, but went without a single block and just four defensive rebounds, as Kenyon’s struggle in the backcourt allowed Oberlin to continue to expand its lead. The teams went into halftime with a score of 37-17 in favor of the Yeowomen.

After the break, the Owls continued to struggle to find their offensive groove. Going just 4-14 on field goals and 0-2 from downtown, Kenyon saw deficits as steep as 31 points. The Owls only scored 13 points in the third quarter, six of which were scored by Horsley. As the fourth quarter began, Kenyon had just 10 more minutes to close the gap as much as it could. Unfortunately, the Owls were only able to score 10 more points, six of which were, once again, from Horsley and Kenyon ultimately fell 73-40. 

Kenyon will be back in action on Saturday as it travels to Granville, Ohio, to face Denison University. According to Horsley, success against the Big Red will require the Owls to grow from their previous game. “Against Denison, my goal is to just improve on what we did in our last matchup against them,” she wrote in an email to the Collegian. “We came out very slow and sloppy and I think we let their pressure speed us up. I’m hoping this time that we can slow things down and play at our pace.”

As the team heads into its seven final games, Horsley reflected on the Owls’ season as a whole: “This season has definitely been challenging at times due to all of the unexpected adversity but also very rewarding. I think that we have started to shift the culture a little bit this season making our team more competitive. All we can do is keep working hard and controlling what we can control.” In terms of next season, Horsley feels that big improvements are on the horizon: “I think we will be an even more competitive team, hoping to create a winning culture that Kenyon can be proud of,” she said.