ARLINGTON, Va. - Elizabeth Lynch matched her career high with 21 points and Nina Voith added 19 to help the Haverford College women's basketball team register a season-opening 70-56 win over 21st-ranked Marymount University on the first night of Marymount's Pablo Coto Tip-Off Tournament.
The two squads battled to a 31-31 tie after the first half of action before the Fords (1-0) took control of the contest with a standout effort on both ends of the floor over the initial 10 minutes of the second half. Scoring her first bucket of the game, junior Shannon Smith converted a short jumper at 18:55 that broke the deadlock and gave Haverford a lead it would not relinquish. Smith's basket kicked off a 16-2 run and a 7-for-11 effort from the field that saw four different Fords score over a 10-minute span. Haverford was just as effective on the defensive end of the floor as it pestered the Saints, ranked nationally in three different preseason polls, into six turnovers and just one made field goal in their first 12 second-half attempts.
A layup by Lynch at 10:08 pushed the Fords' lead to 14 before Marymount (0-1) moved within eight, 47-39, with eight minutes remaining in the contest. A Haverford timeout led to another bucket by Lynch and the advantage was quickly restored to double figures.
The Saints managed to cut the lead to six with two minutes left on the clock but the hosts would get closer due to a sparkling 10-for-11 performance from the free throw line by the Fords over the remainder of regulation.
Marymount had led by as many as seven in the opening 20 minutes before consecutive three-pointers by Jacquelyne Pizzuto and Hope Rainey in the closing minute of the half helped Haverford battle back to tie the contest at the break.
Haverford shot 43.1 percent from the field overall including an 8-for-17 effort from behind the three-point arc.
Lynch and Voith were joined in double figures by Pizzuto (11 points) as the Fords reached 70 points on the scoreboard for just the fifth time in the last four seasons. Pizzuto also registered six of Haverford's 16 assists.
Voith's 10-for-10 effort from the free throw line was just the third time in program history a player was perfect from the charity stripe in double-figure attempts.
Wicks and Aileen Maknati led the Saints with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Katelyn Fischer tallied a game-high nine assists to go along with 11 points.
The Fords move on to Saturday night's championship contest against The College of New Jersey at 7:30 p.m. The Lions advanced to the title game with a 81-64 win over Lynchburg College. Haverford and TCNJ also met on the opening weekend of the season last year with the Fords earning a 54-49 victory.