Oberlin, Ohio – The Oberlin College women's basketball team pulled away late in its North Coast Athletic Conference opener for a 51-47 victory over the Kenyon College Ladies in Philips Gym Wednesday evening.
The Yeowomen offense was led by its two seniors,
Olivia Canning and
Alex Stipano. Canning guided the attack with 13 points to accompany her seven rebounds. Stipano finished the night with 11 points off two triples and a 3-for-4 performance from the foul line.
Heading into the fourth quarter trailing 35-34, the Yeowomen scored the first six points of the period capped by a layup by Canning to give them a 5-point advantage, 40-35. After some back-and-forth play, Oberlin extended its lead to seven on two separate occasions with the last coming on a Canning layup to make it 49-42.
A quick five points by the Ladies put them withina deuce with just over a minute left, but a pair of Stipano free throws would seal the victory for the Yeowomen.
The opening half was closely contested the whole way, but the Yeowomen were the first to get significant separation. One of Stipano's 3-pointers with 4:37 in the second frame gave the Yeowomen a 24-17 advantage.
Jasmine Sorrells closed out the scoring in the first half with a free throw at the 2:15 mark, giving the Yeowomen a 25-20 lead at the intermission.
The Ladies made some halftime adjustments and would take the lead late in the third period as they outscored the Yeowomen 15-9 in the session. A Paige Matijasich jumper in the closing moments gave Kenyon a slim one-point edge heading into the final frame, but it would mark the last time they went out in front in the game.
On the final stat sheet, the Yeowomen went 18-for-51 (35.3%) from the field. The strong defense by Oberlin made up for the tough shooting night, as they held the Ladies to just 17-of-69 (24.6%) shooting, with six steals and six blocks. Sorrells led the strong Yeowomen defense with three blocks off the bench.
The Yeowomen will look to start conference play 2-0 as they will square off against the No. 23-nationally ranked DePauw University Tigers.
