Owls can’t stop Colonels in Puerto Rico opener

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The Kenyon College women’s basketball team faced off against Wilkes University on Sunday afternoon in the first game of the Puerto Rico Clasico, and the team’s first action in nearly three weeks. 

Despite double digit performances from four Owls on the statsheet, the squad couldn’t keep up with the Colonels, falling 62-72 after 40 minutes. 

Wilkes, who play in the Landmark Conference, took a 7-1 lead through the first five minutes, taking advantage of a slow start from Kenyon. Susannah Zimmerman and Eva Winston each found twine to break the run for the Owls, but the Colonels were able to stay ahead thanks to some good shooting from the charity stripe, going 8-of-9 in the first quarter to take an 18-11 lead after one. 

Kenyon started the second quarter much better, cutting the deficit to a single point twice in the opening minutes. Grace Murphy drilled a three after a jumper from Kiana Mollabashy and a successful and-one from Anissy Hardy to cut the lead to 20-19 at 7:35. Murphy assisted on a bucket 90 seconds later to make it a 22-21 game. 

To close the half, however, Wilkes fired off a nice run of its own with four made threes to gain a 37-27 advantage at the break. 

Both defenses tightened up after halftime, leading to a third quarter that totaled just 21 points between the two teams. Kenyon shot just 2-of-16 from the field in the quarter, but held the Colonels in check for a 5-of-15 clip and had four steals, two from Mollabashy. Heading into the final quarter, the Owls trailed 36-49. 

In the final frame, the offenses got back on track, this time combining for 49 points, by far the highest of the game. Kenyon tried to keep up with a 50 percent clip from the field, sinking 11 field goals, but were only able to get within 10 points, thanks in part to a 64 percent clip from the field from Wilkes. In the end, the Colonels commanded a 72-62 victory. 

Alyssa Horsley and Alyssa Gest each had 11 points to lead the team, while Zimmerman and Mollabashy had 10, with Zimmerman leading with five assists and Mollabashy bringing in eight rebounds. 

Kenyon’s record moves to 3-7 with the loss. The Owls will face Kings College in the second game of its Puerto Rico trip on Tuesday, December 30 at 9:00 a.m. EST.

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