SWARTHMORE, Pa. - The Haverford College women's basketball team (13-4, 9-4 CC) picked up an 67-58 road victory over rival Swarthmore (2-16, 1-12 CC) on Thursday evening inside Tarble Pavilion, using a 26-6 run that spanned the halftime intermission to put away the Garnet. Haverford had four scorers in double figures, led by a 21-point outing from senior Macy Goldbach. Goldbach connected on 9-of-15 shooting from the field. Anna-Sophia Capizzi also poured in 16 points while Maddie Gallic and Megan Furch each notched 10 points. Katie Cook joined Capizzi with five assists, adding three steals to her ledger, while Gallic added eight rebounds and Furch collected seven. First year Caroline Andersen had a stellar game defensively, tabbing a career-best four blocks in just 11 minutes of action.
After the Fords got on the scoreboard first to begin the contest, the Garnet posted an early 11-4 run, eventually taking a five-point cushion into the second quarter, up 16-11. A Goldbach layup with under eight minutes remaining in the half cut the Swarthmore lead to just one at 16-15, and the Fords tied the contest as Capizzi drained a trey, prompting Swarthmore to call a timeout with 4:36 remaining in the half. The bucket helped open the floodgates on a 10-2 run over the final 5:29 of play in the half, as the defensive pressure from Haverford limited Swarthmore to just one field goal on its final eight attempts of the period.
The Fords quickly grabbed their first lead since the opening salvo of the contest as Nyla Robinson found Goldbach down low for a layup. Haverford extended the lead to four at 24-20 as Gallic finished an unassisted runner. A wide-open three from Capizzi in the closing seconds of the half allowed the Fords to head to the intermission with a five-point cushion at 27-22.
In the third, Haverford jetted out to an 8-0 run to begin action, with Capizzi and Furch keying a run that prompted a Garnet timeout with Swarthmore in a 13-point hole. Goldbach later added a layup as the Fords capped a 26-6 run that sprawled over the better part of two quarters. Goldbach single-handedly added nine straight Haverford points, punctuating the spurt with her first three-pointer of the contest as Haverford went ahead 42-24. An Andersen layup gave the Fords a 20-point advantage with just over five minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Swarthmore pulled to within 16 at the end of the third, but Goldbach responded with her second triple of the evening in the fourth, handing Haverford a 62-47 advantage with under six minutes remaining.
The Garnet closed strong, getting the Haverford lead down to single digits with just 1:25 to play in regulation, but the Fords were able to finish things off from the free throw line as Cook and Capizzi were each perfect from the charity stripe in the final 90 seconds of action. Abigail Pirron connected on a three-pointer in the waning seconds for Swarthmore, as the Fords took a nine-point victory.
Haverford has now won seven straight meetings with the Garnet, including five straight inside of Tarble Pavilion. The win also picks up half of a Hood Trophy point for Haverford. The other half-point will be decided when the two teams meet on February 13. Updates for the season-long series between the Fords and Garnet can be found here.
The jam-packed week of action rolls on for the Fords as Haverford continues its three-game road swing against No. 20 Gettysburg on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. The journey to the Battleground will be followed by the Fords traveling to face Penn at the Palestra on Sunday at 1 p.m. That game will be the program's first against a Division I opponent. The Haverford men last played in the "Cathedral of College Basketball" in 1998. Tickets for the matchup are available here.