Denison's Jordan Holmes 1,560 career rebounds are a DIII record.
GAMBIER, Ohio—Denison's Jordan Holmes broke the NCAA Division III record for career rebounds but Kenyon managed to hold off the Big Red, 41-38 from Tomsich Arena. Holmes finished with eight points, 17 rebounds and nine blocked shots. She entered the game needing only three rebounds to break the record of 1,545 set by Ronda Joe Miller of Gallaudet in 2000.
Holmes took care of the record in the second quarter. Trailing 13-7 after the first, Denison got five points from Valesha Province in the second along with six rebounds and three blocks from Holmes.
Congratulations to Denison's Jordan Holmes, the new @NCAADIII career leader in rebounds with 1,546. #d3h @DUWBB #DenisonProud pic.twitter.com/DJMkHrbgDK
— Denison Athletics (@DenisonSports) January 26, 2017
DU trailed Kenyon, 20-18 at the half and the game remained close throughout. Back-to-back treys by Province midway through the fourth quarter cut the Kenyon lead to 37-36. Over the next two minutes, both teams came up dry on the offensive end. With just under four minutes to play, Kenyon's Jessica Gerber connected on two free throws, moving the Kenyon lead to 39-36.
Denison missed their next two shots and with 1:19 to play, Sidney Cera put Kenyon on top by five. With 14 seconds left, Kenyon's Charlotte Bussema missed two free throws and Province scored at the other end, making it 41-38 with 10 seconds to play. The Big Red quickly fouled Cera and she proceeded to miss both charity tosses, giving the ball back to Denison with five seconds left and a chance to tie.
Out of the timeout, Denison looked to Province who missed the potential game-tying 3-pointer, allowing Kenyon to escape with the 41-38 victory.
Province scored 16 of Denison's 38 points, going 5-of-11 from the field and 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. She also added a career-high seven rebounds. Holmes followed with eight points while going 2-of-9 from the field. Sixteen of her 17 rebounds came on the defensive end. Despite Holmes' big night on the glass, Kenyon still held a 45-42 edge in rebounds. Eighteen of their 45 rebounds came on the offensive end and the team turned that into 10 second-chance points.
Both teams struggled to find their shooting touch as Kenyon shot 25 percent and Denison connected at a 29-percent clip. Free throws were also a problem as Kenyon was just 2-of-8 from the line while Denison was 8-of-13.
#NCAC Player of the Week interviews for the week ending on Jan 1, are now available online - https://t.co/gfflwYKwtl pic.twitter.com/JJjPgQMKsW
— NCAC (@NCAC) January 5, 2017
Kenyon was led in scoring by Bailey Dominguez and Gerber who scored eight points apiece.
Kenyon improves to 15-5 overall and 9-2 in the North Coast Athletic Conference while Denison drops to 9-10 and 6-4 in league play. The Big Red will try to bounce back on Saturday (Jan. 28) when they host Wittenberg at 1 p.m. inside Livingston Gymnasium.
Jordan Holmes has 1,560 career rebounds, ranking her ninth in NCAA women's basketball history, across all divisions. Earlier this season, Holmes became Division III's career leader in blocked shots. She ranks third in NCAA history (all divisions) in blocked shots with 584.
