HAVERFORD, Pa. - Rachel Baskin scored a career-high 15 points to help the Haverford College women's basketball team turn back McDaniel College, 55-42, in Centennial Conference action Tuesday night at Gooding Arena.
A three-pointer from Elizabeth Lynch put the Fords (9-2, 6-1 CC) in front, 7-6, at the 14:32 mark of the first half and Haverford never looked back as it moved into a tie for first place in the conference with the victory. Pallavi Juneja extended the lead to seven, 13-6, with a jumper three minutes later before McDaniel (5-6, 2-5) closed within two at 15-13, at the seven-minute mark, with a run of of its own. The Fords answered by hitting six of their next nine shots on their way to scoring 14 of the last 20 points of the half. The offensive burst enabled Haverford to move out to a 10-point advantage at intermission, 29-19.
Baskin helped the Fords continue the surge in the opening minutes of the second half as she scored the first seven points after the break to push Haverford ahead by 17. The Green Terror trimmed the Fords' lead to eight (38-30) with 11 and a half minutes remaining but they would get no closer as a layup by Dominique Meeks at 11:17 started a 13-3 run over the next four minutes. A layup by Lynch produced Haverford's largest advantage of the night, 51-33, with seven minutes left on the clock and the Fords maintained the double-digit cushion throughout the remainder of the contest.
Baskin finished 6-of-8 from the field and was active on both ends of the floor as she filled the stat sheet with three rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal. Nina Voith and Lynch gave a spark off the bench as they tallied 12 points and 11 points, respectively. Dominique Meeks led the rebounding effort with 10 while Victoria Sobocinski contributed a career-high five assists.
A solid defensive effort from Haverford held McDaniel, the second-highest scoring team in the Centennial at 67.7 points a game, to its lowest offensive output of the season. The Green Terror became the latest victim of the Fords' defense as Haverford limited McDaniel to a mere 28.3 percent from the field (15-of-53). The Fords also tallied 17 points off 16 Green Terror turnovers. Steph Perez was the only McDaniel player to reach double figures as she took game-high scoring honors with 17 points.
Having won eight of its last nine contests, Haverford faces another conference test on Thursday when it heads to Dickinson College for a 7 p.m. contest against the Red Devils.