GETTYSBURG, Pa. - Senior Dominique Meeks tallied 14 points and 10 rebounds to notch her fourth double-double of the season but it was not enough as the Haverford College women's basketball team fell, 47-36, to host Gettysburg College in a Centennial Conference contest Saturday afternoon at Bream Gymnasium.
The Fords (10-5, 7-4 CC) and Bullets (11-5, 8-3) entered the contest tied for second place in the conference standings and as expected each squad made the other work for everything from the opening tap.
Alyssa Isler's three-pointer at the 14-minute mark moved the Bullets out to a 10-5 lead after the Fords had taken an early 5-3 advantage. Haverford hung tough despite having a hard time finding its shooting range and a Rachel Baskin three-pointer coupled with an Elizabeth Lynch jumper tied the score at 10-10 with 12 and a half minutes remaining before intermission. Gettyburg surged with nine of the next 11 to move ahead 19-12 at 7:27 before Haverford closed out the half with an identical 9-2 run that forged a 21-21 tie at the break. Meeks capped the run with four of her team-high eight first-half points.
The Fords survived a tough shooting half on the road by scoring 10 points off second-chance opportunities and grabbing 14 defensive rebounds. They also did an exceptional job of taking care of the basketball in the opening 20 minutes as they committed just four turnovers.
Looking to carry the momentum over from the late first-half run, Haverford continued to battle and a basket by Meeks to open the second-half scoring gave the Fords their first lead since early in the ball game. After the scoreboard saw the seventh and eighth deadlock of the day, the Bullets crept ahead over the next several minutes as Haverford's difficult shooting day continued. Cori Younghan's layup at the six-minute mark pushed Gettysburg on top by eight, 37-29, but the Fords did not go away as Meeks' basket at 4:25 sliced the Haverford deficit to six. The Bullets hung on for the victory however with a solid performance (10-of-16) from the free throw line over the final two and a half minutes of the game.
Meeks led the team in scoring for the sixth time this season and the double-double is the 19th of her career. The senior forward also tallied three of the Fords' eight steals on the day. Lynch added seven points and four rebounds while Shannon Smith contributed three blocks off the bench.
Caroline Murphy paced the Gettysburg attack with a game-high 18 points and team-high nine rebounds. Isler chipped in with 15 points including an 8-of-10 performance from the foul line.
The grueling Centennial slate continues for Haverford as it prepares to go up against rival Swarthmore College on Wednesday, Jan. 23 at 6 p.m. The Garnet currently sits atop the conference standings with a 10-1 league mark and a 14-2 overall record.