This winter has been a story of ups and downs for the Oberlin College women’s basketball team. They have had quite a number of games where everything clicked on both sides of the ball, and others where they battled with inconsistency.
The squad compiled a record of 5-7 over break through Feb. 6, and a 4-7 mark in the North Coast Athletic Conference, putting them in seventh place with an 8-12 overall record and 4-10 conference mark.
Besides a few key conference victories, perhaps one of the biggest highlights for the Yeowomen over the break was the play of senior guard Nzinga Broussard, who managed to break Head Coach Ann Gilbert’s all-time Oberlin scoring record. In addition, Broussard broke the single-game assist record by passing for 11 assists in a 70-57 victory over Earlham (Ind.) College on Jan. 26, and broke the school and conference single-game record for steals with 13 picks in a game later in January.

Oberlin’s first commanding win of the break came at home against the University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg, where the Yeo-women won 76-49 due largely to the play of junior forward Malisha Richardson, who piled up 20 points on the evening.
After a 68-63 loss at Kenyon on Jan. 5, Oberlin rebounded with a 75-63 victory over the College of Wooster. In the win, Broussard racked up 26 points. After consecutive losses to Wittenberg and Ohio Wesleyan, Oberlin returned home on Jan. 19 to utterly destroy Hiram College by the score of 102-47. The team then faltered in a 59-55 loss to Denison, but came back with a strong 70-57 win at home against Earlham on Jan. 26.
Oberlin struggled to maintain consistency in their next two games, with losses at Wooster, 62-57, and Denison, 62-49, but played an impressive game against Kenyon at home on Feb. 2 to soundly defeat the Ladies, 69-56.
In the contest, Oberlin went on a 10-1 run near the end of the first half to head into intermission with a 34-25 lead. In the second half, the Yeowomen led by as many as 25 points after a lay-up by sophomore guard Tessa Stevens with 7:40 remaining in the game, cruising to a 69-56 victory.
The Yeowomen had two players score in double figures, led by Broussard, who not only broke the Oberlin single-game record with 11 assists, but also scored 14 points, grabbed eight rebounds and picked up eight steals. Richardson was the game’s high scorer with 21 points, making nine of 17 from the field. She also pulled down seven rebounds, passed for an assist and had two steals.
The Kenyon Ladies had three players score in double digits, led by Sarah Fox, who scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Most recently, the team played Allegheny on Wednesday, Feb. 6, at home. With 17:13 remaining in the first half, the score was knotted at 6-6, but Allegheny went on a 22-5 run in the next nine minutes, and by halftime the Yeowomen trailed 40-22. Oberlin came back in the second half to come within five points of Allegheny, 56-51, with 5:47 remaining in the contest. However, the Lady Gators held on in the final minutes to secure a 64-54 victory over Oberlin.
The Yeowomen had two players score in double figures, once again led by Broussard, who tied a game-high by scoring 23 points. She also grabbed seven rebounds, passed for a game-high tying five assists and had a game-high six steals. Junior guard Sonja Spencer added 14 points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal for the Yeowomen.
The Lady Gators also had two players score in double figures, led by Jessica Kankoski, with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

On the season, Broussard is leading the team in scoring (averaging 19.4 points per contest), rebounding (8.2 rebounds per game), assists (99) and steals (109). She leads the conference in scoring, assists (4.95 per game) and steals (5.45), and is fourth in rebounding. Richardson is the next leading scorer for the Yeowomen, as she has averaged 12.3 points per game and is ranked 13th in the conference in scoring.
Oberlin will play their next game on Sunday, Feb. 10, at D’Youville College in D’Youville, N.Y. at noon. They will then return home to face Wittenberg on Wednesday, Feb. 13 at 6 p.m.