HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College women's basketball team (8-2) concluded the 2018 portion of its schedule with a convincing 68-35, wire-to-wire victory over visiting Eastern (4-6) inside the Gooding '84 Arena on Saturday afternoon. Haverford senior co-captain Macy Goldbach poured in a career-best 25 points to lead all scorers. Junior Maddie Gallic added a career-best 17 points of her own while adding seven rebounds. The Fords shot 48.1 percent from the field, limiting the visiting Eagles to just a 28.8 percent clip while causing 23 turnovers.
The first quarter saw the Fords out to an early 7-3 spurt, but Eastern rallied to cut the lead down to just 9-7, as Haverford struggled from the field in the initial moments of the contest. Lauren Howard drilled a three with 2:02 to play in the first, extending the Haverford lead to 12-7. Howard again connected with less than a minute remaining in the stanza as the Fords saw the lead balloon to 15-7. The scoreboard would show 15-9 at the end of the first period.
In the second period, the lead stretched to 13 at 24-11, as senior co-captain Katie Cook drilled a shot from well beyond the arc, pulling up at the right elbow to hand Haverford a commanding lead with just over four minutes left in the half. Junior Hannah Zoll, notching her first career start, drove to the bucket for a 26-13 lead, and Goldbach again poured in the final four Haverford points of the half, as the squads headed to the locker rooms with the Fords up by 12 at 29-17.
Out of the intermission, Haverford kept building its advantage as Goldbach and Cook connected on back-to-back threes for a 41-24 lead. From that point, a 12-2 run for the hosts put the game out of reach for Eastern, as Haverford went ahead 53-26 with under nine minutes remaining in regulation. Another 12-2 spurt in the final six minutes of the game allowed the Fords to cruise into the holiday break unscathed in the non-conference portion of the schedule.
Junior Megan Furch posted a solid day all-around, with three points, seven rebounds, and three assists. Cook stuffed the scoresheet with nine points on 3-5 shooting from beyond the arc, adding five assists, and four rebounds.
Zoll and Goldbach each had three rebounds while Goldbach joined sophomore Nyla Robinson with three steals each. Howard made the most of her 13 minutes on the court with a pair of crucial treys. Senior Ali Weiner pulled down her first career rebound in the final minute.
Regie Robinson proved to be a force for Eastern, notching 18 points while adding three steals. Brianna Young-Harris added a game-best 11 rebounds.
Haverford improves to a perfect 3-0 in its last three matchups with the Eagles. Before this afternoon, the two squads had not met since 2012. The all-time series began in 1981.
The Fords will return to action as the Centennial Conference slate resumes Saturday, January 5. Haverford will host Johns Hopkins at 1 p.m. before heading on the road for a contest at Dickinson on Tuesday, January 8.