HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College women's basketball team reached the 20-win mark for the first time in program history with a 73-36 victory over visiting Ursinus College on Wednesday night. The resounding win pushed the Fords into the top spot in the Centennial Conference standings with one game remaining in the regular season.
Senior Rachel Baskin and junior Elizabeth Lynch shared game-high honors with 15 points to pace Haverford (20-3, 14-3 CC). Senior Nina Voith also reached double figures with 10 points.
Ranked 10th nationally in field-goal percentage defense, the Fords limited the Bears (11-12, 8-9) to just six first-half buckets in 30 attempts while building a 15-point lead (28-13) at the break.
Seven different Fords hit the scoring column in the opening 20 minutes as Haverford shot 40 percent (12-for-30) from the field.
The Fords continued to dominate after intermission with a balanced attack that consistently looked to make the extra pass.
Senior Cara Wyant's three-pointer from the top of the key extended Haverford's advantage to 20 at 46-26 with 8:36 remaining on the game clock. The Fords then went on to nail five more baskets from behind the arc during a 20-6 run that spanned six minutes.
Haverford shot a blistering 66.7 percent (6-for-9) from three-point territory on the way to outscoring Ursinus by 21 points in the final 20 minutes.
Lynch went 3-for-7 from distance on the night to become the program's career leader in three-pointers made with 147. Lynch's career total is one better than the previous record held by Caitie Kimura '04.
Jacquelyne Pizzuto registered a game-high five assists and Shannon Smith chipped in with a team-high eight rebounds. Baskin tallied three of the Fords' eight steals on the night.
Jessica Porada led Ursinus with 10 points but Haverford made the reigning Centennial player of the week work for her points as she went 4-for-13 from the floor.
The season sweep of the Bears ended Ursinus' bid for a spot in the Centennial playoffs and gave the Fords, who are currently ranked third in the Mid-Atlantic Region, a one-game lead over both Johns Hopkins University and McDaniel College with one-game remaining.
A victory by the Fords on Saturday at rival Swarthmore College (13-10, 8-9) would bring the Centennial Conference women's basketball tournament to Haverford for the first time in history. The regular-season finale begins at 1 p.m.