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GRANVILLE, Ohio – The Kenyon College women’s basketball team closed its three-game North Coast Athletic Conference road trip on Saturday afternoon against Dension, ending the longest time the team will be away from Gambier during conference play.
Despite a good statline from first-year Alyssa Horsley, the Big Red were able to take control early and never quite let the Owls back into the contest, taking the game 70-44.
Horsley was Kenyon’s (2-16, 0-8 NCAC) best offensive weapon in the opening half, firing 13 points on 3-of-7 (42.7 percent) shooting from the field and 7-of-8 (87.5 percent) from the charity stripe.
Fellow first-year Eva Winston netted the Owls first two buckets of the contest, as the visitors trailed 10-4 with 6:55 remaining in the quarter.
Denison (12-7, 5-3 NCAC) charged to an 11-6 run to close the first up 21-10, as Susannah Zimmerman helped the Owls with a bucket of her own as Horsley added four points.
Costly turnovers and missed shots allowed the home team to build a sizable advantage in the second quarter, outscoring the Owls 21-11 and ending the half up 41-21. Horsely scored nine in the second while Zimmerman added another tally. As a team, Kenyon shot just 7-of-21 (33 percent) from the field in the half and recorded eleven turnovers.
The Owls best stretch of the game came in the opening minutes after halftime, as the team jumped out to an 8-0 run in the first four minutes of the third. Winston led the scoring effort with four points, while Horsley and Kiana Mollabashy each chipped in two points and one assist each.
After the dominating stretch, the Big Red responded with a 15-3 run of their own to close the quarter up 57-32, as the only Kenyon points came by way of an Alexis Newman three-pointer.
The fourth quarter was the Owls’ most productive offensively and defensively, scoring 12 points while holding Dension to 13, their lowest of the game. The stat sheet showed all first-years in the final frame, as Horsley, Winston, Mollabashy, Zimmerman, and Katherine Organ all got involved, as Zimmerman led the way with four points. The offensive output was not enough, as the Big Red eventually took the game 70-44.
Horsley led Kenyon with 17 points, nine rebounds, and two assists while Winston set a new career-high with 10 points on 5-of-6 (83.3 percent) shooting from the field. Zimmerman was up next for the Owls with eight points, while Mollabashy was not far behind with four.
The loss drops Kenyon’s record to 2-16 overall and 0-8 in the conference. The Owls will return to Tomsich Arena on Wednesday, February 5 at 7:00 pm to take on Wittenberg University.
