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GAMBIER, OHIO – Despite not playing in a game for over a week heading into the contest, the Kenyon College women’s basketball team showed little of rust early on against the University of Olivet Saturday afternoon at Tomsich Arena.
The Owls built a hefty 27-14 lead at the half orchestrated by first-year Alyssa Horsley and looked to be unstoppable, but the Comets stayed composed and slowly chipped away in the second half, eventually taking home the victory 53-47.
After Olivet (3-7) jumped out to a 5-0 lead to start the contest, Horsley began to heat up, firing off nine points in the first ten minutes to lead a 16-4 run to end the quarter. Fellow first-year Kiana Mollabashy also had a strong opening frame, trading baskets with Horsley and adding five points to help the Owls to a 7-of-14 (50 percent) shooting start from the field and 2-of-6 (33.3 percent) mark from beyond the arc.
Kenyon’s (2-8) defense locked down in the second quarter, only surrendering five points and holding the visitors to 2-for-13 (15.4 percent) from the field. Horsley continued her strong half, adding five more points and drilling another three. The Owls ended the final four minutes of the first on a 6-0 run, capping off a 14 point half for Horsley, matching the Comets’ team total and leading 27-14.
In the second half, Olivet began their counterattack, and controlled Kenyon in two key areas that proved to be the difference: rebounds and free throws. The Comets only shot 40 percent from the field in the quarter but went 7-of-9 from the charity stripe and corralled 12 rebounds to go on a 16-10 run in the third. Mollabashy led the Owls with six points in the third on two highlight-reel-worthy three-pointers as Kenyon clung to a 37-30 lead after 30 minutes.
The fourth proved to be the dagger for the Owls, as the Comets outscored the home team 23-10. In addition to a 7-for-12 effort from the free-throw line and grabbing 12 more rebounds, Olivet had its best shooting quarter of the evening, a 7-of-14 mark from the field, and 2-of-4 from three. Kenyon, on the other hand, shot just two free throws all evening and could not rely on the early sharpshooting successes. Horsley came back from a quiet third quarter to lead the Owls with five points, but it was not enough as the Comets stole the game 53-47.
Horsley led the Owls on the stat sheet and set several career highs, including points (19), field goals made (8), and three-pointers made (3). Mollabashy was up next with 16 points and headlined the defensive effort with two steals and a block. Eva Winston contributed good minutes off the bench and added six points for a new career-high for the first-year guard.
The loss drops Kenyon’s record to 2-8 on the season. The Owls have one more game before the new year, a road contest against Heidelberg on December 30 at 3:00 pm.
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