rewrite this content and keep HTML tags
GREENSBURG, Pa. —The Kenyon College women’s basketball team defeated the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg 56-44 on Saturday night at Chambers Hall to start the 2025–26 season with a dominant all-around performance.
With a well-rounded offensive effort, the Owls set the tone early and quickly took a 15-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. In the first period, senior Susannah Zimmerman opened the gates for Kenyon with a three-pointer to start things off. The Bobcats kept up with the Owls, securing layups and free throws to level the score 7-7. First-year Abby Burdette got an easy lay before Junior Alyssa Horsley added a pair of her own from long range to help Kenyon take the lead heading into the second quarter, 15-9.
Both defenses stiffened during the second quarter. Pitt-Greensburg reduced the margin to five at the half, by forcing multiple turnovers. A Grace Murphy steal lead to a Zimmerman visit to the charity stripe, where she secured Kenyon’s first points of the second. Junior Melana Pomerants followed with a lay, stretching their lead to eight points. Both teams responded to every scoring effort, closing the quarter at 23-18, with the Owls still in control.
After halftime, Kenyon regained its rhythm. With baskets from senior Anissa Hardy and Zimmerman, the Owls increased their lead to nine just two minutes into the start of the quarter. To maintain the momentum, Murphy pitched in with a tally of her own and sophomore Kiana Mollabashy maneuvered her way into the paint for two. First-year Abby Burdette and Pomerants closed out the scoring efforts. The Bobcats knocked the lead down to seven with a three-pointer and a fastbreak lay-up. Bringing the score to 36-29 at the end of the third quarter.
Zimmerman and Horsley took control during the fourth quarter. Midway through the period, Zimmerman made consecutive threes to increase the advantage to 10, and Horsley added a three of her own to make it 48-36. Together, they scored 20 of Kenyon’s 33 points in the second half. The Owls defeated the Bobcats 20–15 in the last period thanks to a crucial basket from Mollabashy.
Zimmerman shot 6-of-9 from the field and 4-of-5 from three-point range to end with a game-high 18 points. Mollabashy added eight points, three rebounds, and two steals, while Horsley added fifteen points and four rebounds. Burdette and Pomerants each contributed four points from the bench.
Jocelyn Bielak and Trinity Lockwood-Morris each scored ten points for Pitt-Greensburg, while Autumn Matthews contributed nine points and seven rebounds.\
Kenyon (1-0) will return to action on November 11th when it hosts its first home game of the season to face Heidelberg University.
Read Full Article
