WASHINGTON, PA. — The Hiram College women’s basketball team defeated Washington & Jefferson College, 50-38, tonight (Thursday, Dec. 30) in a non-conference matchup in Washington, Pa. [Game Stats]
With the win, the Terriers improve to 7-3 overall and the Presidents fall to 4-6 overall for the season.
Both teams traded leads in the early minutes of the first half, but Hiram took the lead for good at the 11:22 minute mark on a jumper by sophomore guard Lindsay Buckner (Vienna/Mathews) making the score 12-10 with 11:22 left in the period. The Terriers slowly increased their lead and recorded their largest lead of the half of 10 points, 26-16, with 43 seconds remaining on another jumper by Buckner. Washington & Jefferson tallied the final points of the period, but Hiram still led 26-18 at the break.
In the second half, Hiram began the period with a mini 5-2 run that ended in a basket by junior guard/forward Amy Geisman (Middleburg Heights/Midpark) extending the margin back to double-digits, 31-20, with16:10 left to play. The Presidents answered with a 9-2 run to make it a two-possession game, 33-29, at the 11:58 mark. But an ensuing, 7-0, run by Hiram gave the Terriers control of the game and never looked back en route to matching their largest lead of the game with the final score of 50-38.
Both teams struggled from the floor with the edge going in favor of Hiram who shot 25.3 percent (19-of-75) for the game. Washington & Jefferson finished the game shooting 23.8 percent (15-of-63) from the field.
The President’s top scoring effort was turned in by Ashley Kirkpatrick who scored eight points on three-of-eight shooting (37.5 percent). Kayla Strimel finished with a team-high 10 rebounds.
Hiram was led by senior guard Jess Cowan (Hiram/Crestwood) with game-high 19 points on six-of-25 shooting (24.0 percent) in addition to pulling down nine rebounds. Junior guard Kelsey Durichko (Brunswick) grabbed a game and career-high 15 boards to go along with eight points and five assists.
Hiram will travel to Pittsburgh, Pa. tomorrow (Friday, Dec. 31) for a non-conference game against Carnegie Mellon University. The game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, please contact Hiram College Sports Information Director Jeff Hoedt by phone at (330) 569-5495 or by email at hoedtjm@hiram.edu.