NCAC chooses Cooke as the cream of the crop

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Fresh off a career-best scoring session last week that saw the Kenyon College women’s basketball team dish out its first win of the season, the North Coast  Athletic Conference (NCAC) served its Athlete of the Week honors to Claudia Cooke.

Cooke sliced and diced Defiance College en route to a career-high 35 points, accounting for half of the Owls’ output in the 70-64 victory. The senior center feasted down low against the Yellow Jackets with a sizzling 7-10 (70 percent) shooting effort. She served up a heaping helping of free throws and shot 21-22 (95.5 percent) at the charity stripe, setting a high-water mark for the program in both makes and attempts, breaking records that stood since 1993.

After shelling out just two first-quarter points on the game’s first basket, the seasoned veteran did not leave many leftovers with 33 points over the final three frames. She ordered up 24 points in the second half and put the icing on the cake with 16 in the fourth period. Cooke salted away the win by scoring Kenyon’s final 14 points and cleaning up at the line with a flawless 12-12 mark on fourth-quarter free throws. In addition to her scoring, she stuffed the stat by gobbling up seven rebounds, sending back two Defiance shots, dishing out a pair of assists, and scooping up one steal. 

Hungry for another win, Cooke and the Owls will be looking for second helpings when Kenyon hosts Earlham College later today. The teams have a 6:30 p.m. reservation tonight in Tomsich Arena.