HIRAM, Ohio - November 16, 2021 – Hiram Terriers women's basketball continued their hot start at home, taking an early lead against the Hornets and never looking back, rolling to a 67-47 win over Kalamazoo College on Tuesday in Price Gymnasium.
 
Maddie Rakestraw got the ball rolling, giving Hiram a 2-0 lead with her jumper with 8:42 to play in the first. After a bit of scoring drought from both sides, Madison Branch made it 4-0, before Kalamazoo got on the scoreboard on Kaytlyn Tidey's jumper.
 
The Hornets evened the score at 4-4 on two free throws by Kelsey Diekman, before the Terriers retook the lead on Rakestraw jumper midway through the quarter, never looking back as Hiram led the rest of the way.
 
Haley Thompson then knocked down a triple to make it a five-point game, but the Hornets pulled within two on Laila Vincent's jumper with 2:49 left in the first.
 
However, with a 9-0 run to end the quarter, highlighted by a pair of Branch jumpers, the Terriers to a 20-10 lead after one, and quickly extended it to start the second.
 
Selena Vargas went 1-for-2 at the line to make it an 11-point lead, and Taylor Valaitis knocked down a three, one of three for the junior on the day, to make it a 24-10 lead.
 
The Terriers led by 17 midway through the quarter after a pair of free throws by Iyana Smith, and took their largest lead of the half, an 18-point, 38-20 lead, into the locker room with a 6-0 run to close the quarter.
 
Three-straight Kalamazoo buckets pulled the Hornets within 12 to start the third, but a layup by Vargas slowed the run, and Thompson's layup with 5:41 left in the quarter brought the lead back out to 16, 42-26.
 
Hiram led by as many as 18 in the quarter and took a 50-35 lead into the fourth following Branch's jumper with 57 seconds to go in the third.
 
There, the Terriers would keep the Hornets at bay, keeping their double-digit lead the entire quarter, and leading by as many as 21, before finishing off the 67-47 victory.
 
With the win, Hiram moves to 2-3 on the year, while Kalamazoo drops to 0-2 with the loss.
 
Three Terriers tallied double figures, led by Thompson, who notched 14 points, nine rebounds and four steals. Rakestraw joined Thompson in double figures with 13 points and a team-high five steals, while Branch added 10 points and five rebounds.
 
All but one Terrier scored a bucket as well, as a pair, Kelsie Gaiser and Lyndsey Stocks, scored the first points of their collegiate career.
 
As a team, the Terriers shot 39.3 percent from the field and forced 25 Kalamazoo turnovers, which they turned into 30 points.
 
Hiram next makes the trip to Alfred, N.Y. for the Alfred Tip-Off Classic, beginning with a matchup against the Alfred University Saxons on Saturday, Nov. 20 at 2 p.m.