HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's basketball team ended the 2014-15 regular season with a 63-52 loss to its Hood Trophy rival, the Swarthmore College Garnet, on Saturday afternoon at the Gooding '84 Arena.
Before the game, the team honored its four seniors, Pallavi Juneja, Shannon Smith, Elizabeth Lynch and Jacquelyne Pizzuto. The senior class has 72 wins in its four years, the most in program history. The four seniors also have been part of four Centennial Conference playoff berths, a conference title and the first NCAA Tournament win in women's basketball history.
After a basket by Lynch gave the Fords an early 6-3 lead at the 16:09 mark of the first half, the Garnet went on an 18-0 run, highlighted by three three-pointers to go ahead 21-6 with 9:03 remaining.
The home team had an 11-1 outburst to cut its deficit to six (26-20) with 2:29 left in the first stanza, but a three-pointer by Swarthmore's Jessica Jowdy put the Garnet up nine and the visitors would head into the locker room ahead 31-22 at halftime.
Six of the 10 made baskets by the Garnet in the first half were three-pointers which helped them to its halftime lead. Jowdy, who made all three of baskets from long range, had a game-high 11 points in the first 20 minutes of game action. Lynch led the Fords with seven points in the half.
Haverford started the second half by scoring 10 of the first 11 points led by Lynch's back-to-back baskets from beyond the arc to tie the score at 32-32 at the 15:06 mark. The Fords would tie the game twice times over the next several minutes, but the Garnet answered each time to regain the lead.
Two free throws by freshman Anna Schrecengost gave the Fords their first lead since the 14:24 point of the first half, but the Garnet's Abbey Deckard made three-pointers on consecutive possessions to make the score 46-41. The Fords' Hood Trophy rival would never relinquish the lead, jumping in front by as many as nine over the final 10 minutes of the game. Head coach Bobbi Morgan's team got within four with 2:56 to go, but Swarthmore made six free throws in the final minutes to seal the win.
Lynch finished with 16 points in the game to lead the Fords. The senior also added eight rebounds and two steals. Pizzuto finished one assist shy of a double-double, recording 13 points. Freshman Sierra Berkel grabbed a team-high nine rebounds in the loss.
Larsen had a game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds while Jowdy poured in 13 points and snagged nine rebounds in the win for Swarthmore.
The Fords saw their record drop to 15-10 and 13-5 in the Centennial Conference while the Garnet improved to 10-15 and 6-12 in conference play. Haverford will now host Gettysburg in the first round of the Centennial Conference playoffs on Tuesday. The time has not been decided yet.