HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's basketball team completed a season swept of Franklin & Marshall with a 61-43 victory inside the Gooding '84 Arena on Saturday afternoon. In doing so, the Fords (13-3, 9-2 CC) maintained their perfect 7-0 record at home this season.
Sierra Berkel led Haverford with 17 points as her first free throw with 7:34 to play in the fourth quarter marked the 1,000th point of her career. Berkel, who also added a team-high eight rebounds on the defensive end, is the seventh player in program history to hit that plateau. Overall, the offensive end of the floor was a balanced effort as a total of seven Haverford players finished with at least four points.
Haverford outscored the Diplomats in each of the four quarters to steadily increase its advantage throughout the afternoon. Each team held leads in the opening quarter as the Fords opened an 8-3 advantage before the Diplomats came back to claim a 14-11 advantage. Nevertheless, Haverford closed the quarter on a 4-0 run with baskets from Berkel and Megan Furch to carry a 15-14 edge into the second.
Franklin & Marshall never led for the remainder of the afternoon, but did tie the game at 21-all with 2:58 to play in the opening half. A three-pointer from the Diplomats snapped a stretch which saw the Fords hold the visitors off the scoreboard for over three minutes of playing time. However, the Haverford defense would keep its opponents off the scoreboard for the rest of the first half, capping the second quarter on a 7-0 run that made the score 28-21 at the break.
The Fords put together their most impressive quarter of the afternoon out of the halftime break as they doubled up the Diplomats by an 18-9 margin in the third. Haverford's lead crossed into a double digit advantage just shy of the midway point of that period with a pair of free throws from Katie Cook to make the score 34-23 with 6:09 remaining in the quarter.
Haverford pushed its lead to 20 points following a free throw from Macy Goldbach which made the score 50-30 with 8:58 left in regulation. The Fords held their largest advantage of the day, 61-40, when Julianna Clark sank the last of her three treys with just under three minutes to play.
Clark's trio of three-pointers came during a very efficient day from beyond the arc. The Fords' first year went 3-for-4 from distance, while the team was 6-of-12 combined. Haverford shot just under 50% from the field during the game and held the Diplomats to 30% on the afternoon. Goldbach also knocked down a pair of three-pointers to match Samantha Wetzel's eight point afternoon. The Fords shared the ball well with 19 assists on 24 field goals. Maddie Gallic had a team-best five assists to lead that category.
Women's basketball will have another three-game week upcoming. Up first will be a trip to Bi-Co neighbor Bryn Mawr next Tuesday for a 7 p.m. tip. The Fords will also play doubleheaders alongside the men's team next Thursday at home against Ursinus and next Saturday at Dickinson.