HIRAM, Ohio - January 19, 2022 – Down at the half, Hiram women's basketball staged a furious second-half comeback, roaring back from a 45-31 halftime deficit, but fell just short to the Kenyon College Ladies, 69-63 on Wednesday inside Price Gymnasium.
 
Maddie Rakestraw got the Terriers on the board following Claudia Cooke's bucket for the Ladies to open the first quarter. A triple by Grace Connery made it 5-2 Kenyon before Iyana Smith made it a one-point game with her layup with 8:11 to play in the first.
 
The Terriers and Ladies traded buckets over the next minute or so, before Kenyon stretched their lead out to seven, 18-11, following a pair of three throws by Greta Propp.
 
Rakestraw answered with a three, pulling Hiram within four, but the Ladies answered with a 9-3 run to take their largest lead of the quarter, 27-17, with just over 30 seconds left in the period.
 
A made free throw by Kelsie Gaiser and Smith's layup at the buzzer though, made it a seven-point Ladies lead, 27-20, after one.
 
And after a scoreless minute and a half to start the second, Kenyon went on a run, stretching their lead back out to double digits and taking their largest lead of the game, 42-28, with under a minute left in the second quarter.
 
Hiram again answered with a free throw and bucket, but this time, Madelyn Anderson's layup at the buzzer made it a 14-point, 45-31 halftime lead for the Ladies.
 
The Terriers though, came out strong to start the second half, opening the third quarter with two of the first three buckets and a 19-4 run to take their first lead since the first quarter, 48-47, on Cici Bright's made free throw with 2:40 left in the third.
 
From there, the two sides traded buckets, with Kenyon retaking the lead on a pair of free throws by Propp, and again on Propp's bucket with 1:56 left in the third.
 
Two more Propp free throws made it 52-50, before Haley Thompson sunk a jumper to cut the Ladies' lead back down to one, 53-52, heading to the fourth.
 
In total, the Terriers outscored Kenyon, 21-8 in the third period, shooting 45 percent from the field and holding the Ladies to just 18.2 percent shooting.
 
Propp extended the Kenyon lead to start the fourth, knocking down a triple, one of her 13 second-half points, to make it a 56-52 lead.
 
Hiram answered on Vargas' jumper with just under eight to play, but again Propp found the bottom of the net, extending Kenyon's lead back out to four with 6:14 left to play.
 
Two free throws by Thompson again made it a two-point game, before Smith went 1-for-2 from the line to make it a one-point game, 58-57, with 5:01 remaining.
 
Neither team could buy a bucket over the next 1:39 until Cooke went 1-for-2 at the line to make it a two-point, Kenyon lead.
 
This time though, Thompson knocked down a three on the other end, giving Hiram its first lead of the fourth, 60-59, with 3:04 to play.
 
Another foul though gave Katie Orefice a pair of three throws, and she knocked down both to make it 61-60 Kenyon. However, Smith, this time knocked down a three, one of her four makes on the evening, to give Hiram a two-point, 63-61 advantage with 2:08 to play.
 
However, Kenyon would hold Hiram without a bucket the rest of the way, tying the game on Cooke's layup with 1:45 left, and taking the lead for good on a pair of free throws by Anderson.
 
Down two, Hiram missed a trio of layups with a chance to tie, and the Ladies made their free throws down the final stretch to pull out a 69-63 victory.
 
With the loss, Hiram drops to 3-11 (0-7 NCAC), while Kenyon moves to 4-12 (2-5 NCAC) with the win.
 
Smith led the Terriers with a career-high 19 points, adding a team-leading and career-high eight rebounds, while Rakestraw, Thompson and Vargas all joined the junior in double figures with 15, 11 and 10 points apiece.
 
Thompson added a team-leaded and career-high six assists to go along with six rebounds, while Rakestraw notched two of the Terriers' four blocks.
 
For the Ladies, Orefice led the way with 21 points.
 
As a team, the Terriers scored 18 points off 16 Kenyon turnovers, picking up 11 steals. And after shooting 50 percent in the first half, Hiram held the Ladies to just 19.2 percent in the second, including just 1-for-6 from distance.
 
Hiram next visits Defiance, Ohio for a non-conference matchup against the Defiance College Yellow Jackets on Sunday, Jan. 23 at 4 p.m.