Marietta, Ohio - Playing for the first time in 16 days, the Oberlin College women's basketball team used a well-balanced attack to defeat the Mount Aloysius Mounties 74-55 in the opening game of the 37th Annual Jim Meagle Holiday Classic sponsored by BSN Sports of campus Marietta College.
All five starters finished in double figures for the Yeowomen, led by
Gina Lombard who cashed in five 3-pointers on her way to 15 points. Fellow senior backcourt mate
Alyson Jefferson stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Junior
Camille Zinaich matched Jefferson with 14 tallies on an efficient 6-of-9 shooting to accompany her six boards.
Lily Najmulski netted all 12 of her points in the second half, while
Ellie Pollock-Ballard finished with 10 points to go along with a career-high seven rebounds.
After the long layoff, the Yeowomen started slow, missing nine of their first 10 shots from the floor as the Mounties built up a 10-2 lead over the first seven minutes of the game. However, Oberlin would settle in and trail by just one, 12-11, after the opening quarter.
Lombard started the second session with a long-range strike to give Oberlin its first lead of the game and followed with another triple-hit to make it a 17-12 Yeowomen advantage. Three straight charity tosses from Jefferson had Oberlin out in front 26-21 at the midway point of the frame and both teams would combine for just nine points the rest of the half as Oberlin carried a 30-26 lead into the intermission.
A pair of 3-pointers from Lombard and
Krystal Montas in the early portion of the third quarter helped swell the Oberlin advantage out to 10, 30-20, at the 6:22 mark. A corner three-ball from Pollock-Ballard increased the cushion out to 13, but back-to-back triples from Mount Aloysius quickly got the Mounties back to within seven, 45-38.
The Yeowomen would stymie the threat, however, by catching fire from beyond the arc, cashing in 6-of-9 triple tries in the period en route to closing the frame on a 14-2 run that featured a pair of threes from Lombard and five points from Najmulski to give the Yeowomen a 59-40 lead heading into the final frame.
The fourth quarter started with Najmulski dialing up yet another long-distance connection to balloon the lead out to 22 and the Mounties never threatened the final outcome as they would get no closer than 19 points the rest of the way. The period also featured the first-career points for first-year
Allison Bubar.
Oberlin's sweltering defense forced 24 Mountie turnovers that led to 27 points. OC was also active on the glass, grabbing 21 of its 42 rebounds on the offensive end and converting them into 19 second-chance points.
Oberlin, which improved to 9-1 on the year, will take on the host Pioneers tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m.
