Box Score

December 6 – First-year head coach Kerry Jenkins guided his Oberlin College women's basketball team to their first victory of the season – a thrilling 52-50 barnburner against Earlham College on Saturday afternoon at Philips Gym.

The Yeowomen were paced by senior Alyssa Clark who dropped in 17 points to go along with a team-high 10 boards for her first double-double of the season. Sophomore Syrea Thomas also added a career-high 13 points off the bench.

“Obviously it felt good to get this win and get the monkey off our backs so to speak,” Jenkins said. “I am so proud of these girls for the way they played today. We have been working so hard in practice and we are starting to come together as a team.”

With the score knotted at 47 with 2:02 left to play, Thomas deposited two of her four charity tosses and just seconds later January Baker cleaned up a Clark miss with a big stick-back lay-up just outside the minute mark to give Oberlin a 51-47 edge.

A Katy Buda 3-pointer got Earlham within one, 51-50, and on the ensuing possession Clark got hit with a charging foul – giving the Quakers a prime chance to take the lead. But on this trip down, Buda's three-ball was off the mark – allowing Oberlin to escape with its first win of the season.

Oberlin (1-6, 1-1 NCAC) never led in the first half, but used an 8-0 run to end the half down just one, 29-28, and effectively steal the momentum away from Earlham (0-6, 0-2 NCAC).

The Yeowomen carried that confidence into the second session to build their largest lead of the afternoon, 39-29, with 15:01 left in the game. However, the Quakers responded with a 14-0 run of their own to grab a 43-39 edge at the 9:41 mark. OC would quickly regain the lead on five straight points by Clark and would not trail the rest of the way.

Baker's presence down low loomed large for the Yeowomen on both ends of the floor as she rejected a career-high seven shots to go along with eight boards.

The Oberlin bench bunch also out-scored Earlham 24-6 and the Yeowomen had a 20-14 edge in points in the paint.

The Yeowomen play their last game of the 2008 calendar year on Thursday, Dec. 11, at Ursuline College.