No. 11 John Carroll overpowers Kenyon

GAMBIER, Ohio — The No. 11-ranked John Carroll University Blue Streaks had five double-digit scorers during a Saturday afternoon women’s basketball game in which they overwhelmed the Kenyon College Owls by an 80-44 final score at Tomsich Arena.

The win ran John Carroll’s overall record to 12-1 and its North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) record to 2-1. It also improved the Blue Streaks’ win streak to seven games. On the other side of the court, the Kenyon loss dropped the Owls to 5-9 overall and 0-3 in the NCAC.Four of John Carroll’s starting five rang up double-digit scoring totals, including Carmen Heuker and Graci Semptimphelter, who both tossed in a game-high 14 points. Carly Perusek scored 12 and Nicci Finazzo came off the bench to match that total. Starter Ava Ryncarz added another 11 points, rounding out that group of five who accounted for nearly 80 percent of the team’s offense.Kenyon didn’t have the same shooting success. The Owls fired at 32.6 percent (15-of-46) and did not have a double-digit scorer. The team was led by senior Anissa Hardy and first-year Abby Burdette, who each tossed in nine. Hardy also snared a team-high six rebounds, equalling the six from first-year Antonia Marzini, who contributed seven points.  Kenyon’s shooting struggles, coupled with 19 turnovers, put the Owls out of the running early. John Carroll logged 24 points off Kenyon mishaps, racked up 13 fast-break points, and dominated Kenyon in the paint, 40-18.

The Owls had two early leads, but after the first two minutes of play, John Carroll maintained the advantage the rest of the way. The Blue Streaks held Kenyon to eight points in both the first and second quarters and pushed their lead to 25 points (41-16) at the mid-way point.Kenyon would cut the lead down to 20 points on three occasions in the third quarter and once more in the fourth quarter, but could pull no closer, as the Blue Streaks ended up shooting 48.4 percent (30-of-62) throughout the contest.The road ahead doesn’t provide much relief for the Owls. They head to Delaware, Ohio on Wednesday to take on No. 12-ranked Ohio Wesleyan University (12-1, 3-0 NCAC) in another difficult conference contest. 

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