WESTMINSTER, Md. – The Haverford College women's basketball team was stunned by host McDaniel on Saturday afternoon at the Gill Center, dropping a defensive battle to the Green Terror by a final score of 41-38. Sierra Berkel had 13 points to lead the Fords, adding eight rebounds on the afternoon. Macy Goldbach poured in 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc. Following defeat, Haverford is now 19-5 on the season (15-4 CC) while McDaniel sits at 12-11 (10-8 CC) with the victory.
The Fords were limited to just 38 points, their lowest total of the 2017-18 campaign. McDaniel was able to limit the Fords offensive chances with deliberate pacing and solid defending on the perimeter.
After a seesaw battle in the first five minutes of the contest, Haverford closed the first quarter on a 7-0 run to take the early 14-7 lead. Anna-Sophia Capizzi scored five straight points, draining a three, notching a steal and then finishing a layup in the span of just over 20 seconds of game action. Samantha Wetzel hit a jumper to give the Fords the seven point cushion to end the stanza.
The lead briefly grew to nine with a Berkel layup with 8:03 left until halftime, and Goldbach hit a three-pointer for a 19-9 lead with 5:18 left, the largest advantage of the contest for either side. An 8-0 run for the Green Terror cut the Haverford advantage to just two at 19-17 before Halle Burgess tied the score at 19-19 with 80 seconds remaining in the half.
The 19-19 score line would hold as the halftime result, with the Fords opening up the third quarter with five points from Goldbach on a trey and a jumper ahead of a Berkel layup.
Liv Storer hit a jumper for McDaniel on the other end and Haverford clung to a 26-23 lead with 5:58 remaining in the third. Wetzel and Storer then traded buckets ahead of yet another Berkel layup that pushed Haverford to a five-point lead through 30 minutes of action at 30-25.
McDaniel held Haverford scoreless in the fourth quarter until the 3:55 mark, as the Green Terror took a 35-30 lead with a methodical 10-0 run. Julianna Clark hit her first three-pointer of the contest with 2:48 remaining in regulation, but Burgess had an answer to restore a five-point lead at 38-33. Goldbach then cut the McDaniel lead to just two with 1:57 to play, draining a corner three.
On its ensuing posession, McDaniel ran the shot clock down to just two seconds before Jasmine Smith drove towards the basket. Smith was fouled and made one of her two free throws as the hosts found themselves up three with 1:11 to play. Clark was off target on a pair of three-pointers on the ensuing Haverford posessions, but Sierra Berkel scooped a rebound and was fouled.
Berkel hit both her free throws and suddenly the Fords were down just one at 39-38. Berkel was whistled for a foul on the next possession, and Burgess hit both her free throws for a 41-38 lead with 15 seconds to play. With two fouls to give, McDaniel fouled the Fords following the inbound pass on two staight occasions, running the game clock down to just 10 seconds.
With McDaniel seemingly using every resource on defense, Katie Cook was forced into a contested look for a three-pointer in the waning seconds. The ball went over the backboard and out of bounds, handing McDaniel possession with under one second remaining. McDaniel advanced the ball with a timeout and was able to see the clock expire on the inbounds, coming back to eclipse the Fords with a home win.
For Haverford, Wetzel made an impact on both sides of the ball with six points, six rebounds and four blocks. Burgess led all scorers with 18 points and added five rebounds.
Both teams had nearly identical shooting percentages with McDaniel shooting 42 percent to Haverford's 41.9 percent. Haverford won the rebound battle 38-28, but McDaniel added 11 points off turnovers to just four for the Fords.
Haverford next returns to action on Wednesday, February 14 in the regular season finale at Hood Trophy rival Swarthmore. The contest is slated to begin at 6 p.m. with the men's contest to follow at 8 p.m.