HAVERFORD – They brought the ladder out and the Haverford College players cut down the net after the Fords defeated Johns Hopkins, 66-56, to win the Centennial Conference women’s basketball championship at Gardner Center Saturday.
Senior Nina Voith took her turn with the scissors, then looked around.
‘It was something special,’ said the Centennial Conference’s most valuable player, who missed a season while recovering from a knee operation.
Voith tossed in 16 points and pulled down seven rebounds as she helped the Fords to their first Centennial title.
Cara Wyant, another senior who sat out a season to concentrate on her studies, came off the bench to get 13 of her 15 points in the second half. She hit a big 3-point shot and was 6-for-7 from the line as the Fords (23-3), who saw their 14-point halftime advantage trimmed to six several times in the last 20 minutes, stayed strong down the stretch.
‘At halftime, we just tell ourselves the score is 0-0 and we have to play hard no matter what,’ said Wyant, who helped Villa Maria Academy of Erie to a pair of PIAA Class AA state titles.
One of Wyant’s field goals came with 13 minutes to play, after Hopkins (18-8) got to within six points. She missed a foul shot on the play, but during the last four minutes, she was 6-for-6 at the line.
‘She’s a pre-med major, and she took a year off to focus on her grades,’ Haverford coach Bobbi Morgan said. ‘She’s really made a difference since she came back.’
Voith got 12 of her points in the opening half.
‘Playing a second game in two nights is a tough turnaround,’ she said. ‘We just knew we had to keep pushing in the second half. Everything stayed positive and energizing.
‘We got off to such a great start, then (Johns Hopkins) came at us strong and beat us when we played them down on their court. That wasn’t really such a bad thing. It gave us the desire to do well because we hoped to see them again.’
Rachel Baskin chipped in with 12 points for the Fords, hitting both of her 3-point attempts. ‘She never shoots 3s,’ Morgan said.
Morgan knew her seniors had motivation from the way their last two seasons ended.
‘(Hopkins) knocked us out of the playoffs both times,’ she said. ‘And they made their run in the second half tonight. But we were just so determined. From the beginning of this season they have been so focused.’
The next point of focus will be the first-round opponent in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
‘We can start thinking about that at our next practice,’ Voith said. ‘And’s it’s nice to say that we do have practice again.’
