PUERTO RICO – The Wilkes University women's basketball team headed south to close out the 2025 calendar year, defeating Kenyon College 72-62 in Puerto Rico on Sunday afternoon.

Wilkes improves to 3-6 on the year, while Kenyon falls to 3-7 overall.

The Colonels opened the game hot, as they scored five unanswered points and held the Owls scoreless for the first five minutes. They grew the lead to as many as nine points with 1:27 left to play in the quarter, going up 15-6. Yamirelis Matos (Springfield, MA/Chicopee) and Anya Richet (Plymouth, PA/Wyoming Valley West) led the way over the run with five and four points respectively. A layup and one from Dana Wartzenluft (Mertztown, PA/Brandywine Heights) sent Wilkes into the second quarter ahead 18-11.

The Owls fought back at the start of the second, going on an 8-2 run to close the score to 20-19 with 7:35 left to play in the half. Triples from Delaney Moyer (Dillsburg, PA/Northern York), Carolyn Lundy (Fair Haven, NJ/St. John Vianney), and Matos helped build the cushion again on a 12-8 run to make it a 32-27 game with a minute left to play. Addison Place (Dover, PA/Northern York) helped give Wilkes a double-digit lead with two free throws and a triple in the final seconds to take a 37-27 lead into the half.

From there, the Colonels would not relinquish the lead or let the margin dip below double-digits until the final buzzer. Maliyah Warren's (Phoenixville, PA/Phoenixville) layup with 1:55 left to play in the fourth gave Wilkes a 20-point lead up 72-52, the largest lead of the day.

Fourteen different Colonels saw the floor with nine scoring points, led by a season-high 24 points from Matos. 29 of the team's 72 points came from the bench, led by Lundy and Place with seven points each. Matos also led the team with eight rebounds and three steals, while Reagan Holden (Wilkes-Barre, PA/Wilkes-Barre Area) had a team-high four assists.

Alyssa Horsley and Alyssa Gest each had 11 points to lead the Owls, while Kiana Mollabashy led the team with eight boards. Susannah Zimmerman led all players with five assists on the day.

Wilkes closes its trip to Puerto Rico on Tuesday, December 30 as they take on Western Connecticut State University at 11:00 a.m.