GAMBIER, Ohio - Oberlin College women's basketball was hoping to rebound after its first NCAC loss in five games, but the Kenyon College Ladies, outlasted the Yeowomen down the stretch as Oberlin fell, 55-51, inside of Tomsich Arena on Wednesday night.
It was a back-and-forth affair early on as the Ladies took a one-point lead into the halftime break, 20-19.
The Yeowomen sputtered out of the gate, but managed to stayed locked at an 8-8 tie after the first 10-minute stanza. To open the second quarter, the Ladies ripped off a 12-0 scoring run in the initial 4:32 of the frame to catapult to a 20-8 advantage.
In the remaining 6:28, the Ladies cooled off offensively and Oberlin stepped up the intensity on both sides of the ball. The Yeowomen used an 11-0 run to close the half and head to the locker room trailing by the slimest of margins.
Out of the intermission, the Yeowomen grabbed the lead for the first time since their opening possession. A pair of free throws from
Abby Andrews, on the way to her team-high 16 point total, put the Yeowomen in front 21-20. Both sides would exchange control of the lead four more times in the quarter, before a free throw from
Tyler Parlor knotted the scoreline at 34-34 heading into the final regulation period.
Kenyon opened the fourth with a three-ball from Bailey Dominguez, and the Ladies wouldn't trail for the remainder of the game. Nearly every bucket that Oberlin found was answered on the other end by Kenyon. With 3:12 left in regulation, an Andrews' layup brought the game to it's seventh tie, but Kenyon quickly answered. After drawing a foul,
Lindsey Bernhardt went to the line for Oberlin, and split a pair of free throws, leaving the Yeowomen with a one-point deficit, 48-47.
As the clock ran down under a minute, the Ladies point guard, Sydney Cera hit on a clutch step-back three-pointer to extend the Kenyon lead to four once again. From there, the Yeowomen's effort was too little too late as they were forced to foul, sending Dominguez and Cera to the line where they iced the game for the Ladies.
The loss is Oberlin second consecutive North Coast Athletic Conference setback as they fell to 4-6 in league play and 10-9 overall.
Andrews, who has now scored in double figures in five out of her last six games, got her 16 points on 7-of-10 (70%) shooting with four rebounds.
Caroline Hamilton came to life for 10 points on 4-of-7 (57.1%) from the floor with five boards, a steal and an assist. Parlor and first-year center
Olivia Canning joined Hamilton with five rebounds each, while chipping in with six and four points, respectively.
Unfortunately for the Yeowomen, the schedule does not get an easier following the loss as they play host to the always dangerous Tigers of DePauw University followed by the high-powered, NCAC-leading Denison Big Red.
The Oberlin women will host the Tigers on Saturday, January 30 as the first half of a men's-women's weekend, home double-header. Tip off is slated for 1 p.m. from inside of Philips Gymnasium.
