Women's Basketball
With the win, Kenyon improved to 14-12 overall and will now battle No. 1 seed Denison University, which rolled over No. 8 seed Oberlin College, 94-63, Friday in the second semifinal game. The Kenyon win Tuesday is the third-straight victory over the Battling Bishops in the conference postseason tournament.
The game started slowly for both sides with neither squad putting a point on the board until a free-throw toss by Katie Hamilton of Ohio Wesleyan gave the Battling Bishops a 1-0 edge four-and-a-half minutes into the contest. The Ladies nailed three-pointers on two of their next three possessions and added a jumper, Megan Smith, and gained an 8-1 advantage nearly halfway through the opening period.
Ohio Wesleyan recorded its first made field goal of the game on a layup at the 9:04 mark of the first half by Erica Gibson. Up to that point, the Kenyon defense held the Battling Bishops to 0-of-16 from the field including 0-of-10 from three-point range. The gritty Kenyon defense also forced Ohio Wesleyan into six miscues during that span.
Behind a quick 6-2 run, the Battling Bishops pulled to within a single point, 10-9, with just over four minutes remaining, but Kenyon utilized a 14-7 run and held a 24-16 halftime bulge.
A three-point field goal by Katie Lloyd drew Ohio Wesleyan to within six, 37-31, with 8:32 left. Kenyon answered with a 14-3 run over the next seven minutes and cruised to the ten-point win.
First-year student Laurel Stokes tied a career-high with 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting and grabbed six rebounds for the Ladies. Junior Hilary Gowins was the other Kenyon player in double figures with 13 points. Lloyd paced the Battling Bishops with 14 points while Erica Gibson added 10 markers.
The Ladies held a decisive advantage at the charity stripe, going 15-of-17 for the contest compared to just 6-of-13 for Ohio Wesleyan.