HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford women's basketball team clinched the top seed in the Centennial Conference tournament after a 57-46 win over McDaniel on Senior Day at the Gooding '84 Arena on the Haverford Campus. The Fords were paced by Macy Goldbach, who tallied five three pointers (15 points overall) for the third straight contest, and Megan Furch, who posted her first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Sierra Berkel had 12 points in the victory. Haverford improves to 18-6 overall (15-4 CC) while McDaniel falls to 11-12 overall (9-9 CC) with the loss. The Fords again showed prowess from beyond the arc, drilling nine three-pointers on the day (42.9 percent).
Haverford fell behind 4-0 before responding with a 12-3 run to take a 12-7 lead at 3:01 remaining in the first quarter. Berkel finished a layup in the paint and then hit a jumper, finishing a run of three straight buckets for the Fords. Furch hit a jumper of her own to give Haverford a 14-7 advantage, but Jasmine Smith sank a layup to cut the lead to 14-10 after one quarter of play.
Katie Cook nailed a three-pointer to begin the second quarter and Goldbach followed with her second of the contest for a 20-15 lead with 6:09 remaining in the half. Berkel scored on the next possession for the Fords, making it 22-15 with 5:28 to play and prompting a Green Terror timeout.
Furch scored the next seven points for Haverford, closing out the half with a 29-19 lead after completing a three-point play with 50 seconds left.
With 8:02 remaining in the third, Maddie Gallic drilled a three-pointer to give Haverford a nine point lead at 32-23. Karli Zeps single-handedly gave McDaniel a 4-0 spurt to cut the lead to five, but Berkel responded with points in the paint to restore a seven point lead at 34-27. Layups from Furch and Wetzel gave Haverford a 10 point cushion at 4:13 left in the third quarter before Halle Burgess made a jumper to cut the lead to six at 2:52 left. Goldbach again connected from beyond the arc for a nine point lead at 41-34.
Goldbach sank the first shot of the fourth from downtown as the Fords went up by 12. Her fifth three-pointer of the contest came with 5:48 in regulation and gave Haverford a 52-39 cushion. Gallic delivered a dagger trey with 3:57 left to put the Fords up by 14 at 55-41. Haverford was held scoreless for the last 3:32 of the contest, but held on thanks to some stout defense and strong offensive rebounding. Wetzel finished with four blocks to lead the defensive effort on the afternoon.
Zeps had a game-high 16 points to lead the Green Terror, while Alyssa March added eight rebounds for McDaniel.
Haverford outshot McDaniel 40.4 percent to 35.4 percent throughout the contest and benefited from a 20-9 advantage in bench points, despite using just three reserves to 10 for McDaniel.
Prior to the contest, Haverford recognized the contributions of seniors Clio Bodie, Darby Festa and Kathy Prescott. Bodie picked up her first start of the season in the win.
The Fords will return to action on Wednesday, February 15 against Swarthmore at Gooding '84 Arena. Game time is slated for 6:00 p.m. with the men's game against the Garnet scheduled for 8:00 p.m. in a Hood Trophy doubleheader that serves as the regular season finale for the women's program.
