HAVERFORD, Pa. - Nina Voith topped all scorers with 19 points and Elizabeth Lynch added 12 as the Haverford College women's basketball team claimed its eighth straight victory with a 61-48 win over host Franklin & Marshall College in Centennial Conference action at the Mayser Center on Thursday night.
The Fords (16-1, 10-1 CC) swept the season series against the Diplomats (3-15, 1-10) for the second consecutive year.
Looking to snap its nine-game winning streak, F&M got off to a hot start as it went 4-for-5 from the field in the opening two-plus minutes of the contest to move out to an 8-2 lead.
Brianna Robbins provided a spark off the bench to help Haverford answer back with its own surge. The Fords scored nine of the next 11 points to take an 11-10 lead on a layup by Robbins at 13:43.
The Dips went back on top briefly at 11:20 on a bucket by Jessica Dowicz but Elizabeth Lynch's three-pointer on Haverford's subsequent possession provided the last lead change of the night.
F&M managed to tie the game at 19-19 on a jumper by Emma Lisle with five and half minutes left until intermission but once again the Fords responded from distance as Nina Voith drilled Haverford's fourth three-pointer of the first half.
Leading by one at the break (26-25), Haverford heated up after the break as it scored the first eight points of the second half.
Five straight points from Elizabeth Lynch pushed the Fords' advantage to 13 with 11:36 left in the game and the Dips would get no closer than 10 the rest of the way due to Haverford's aggressive defense.
F&M tallied just eight points over the initial 12 minutes of the second half as the Fords' lead grew to 49-33 on a three-pointer from Cara Wyant.
Haverford continued to keep the hosts at a distance over the remainder of the game on its way to its 10th conference victory of the season.
The Fords, who entered the contest as the conference leader in three-point field goals per game, finished 9-for-23 from behind the arc including a 3-for-4 performance by Voith.
Senior Rachel Baskin filled the stat sheet with seven points, six rebounds, four assists and a team-high three steals. Junior Jacquelyne Pizzuto also scored seven points to go along with a game-high eight assists. Wyant led the effort on the boards with seven rebounds while also registering three of Haverford's nine blocks on the night.
Dowicz paced the Dips with 14 points and Kristina McCarthy helped the cause with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Lisle added 12 points and eight rebounds.
Sitting atop the conference standings, the Fords surpassed last season's win total with the victory.
Haverford returns to Gooding Arena for three straight games beginning Saturday against Johns Hopkins University (12-6, 10-3) which accounted for the Fords' lone loss of the season on January 8. The Centennial contest begins at 1 p.m.