GETTYSBURG, Pa. - The Haverford College women's basketball team (14-4, 10-4 CC) dismantled No. 20 Gettysburg (15-3, 12-1 CC) by a final of 59-38 on Saturday afternoon inside Bream Gym, handing the Bullets their first conference loss of the 2018-19 season and their first loss overall since December 29. Haverford held Gettysburg to its lowest point total since the 2014-15 campaign in the 21-point victory. Megan Furch poured in a career-best 17 points during the triumph, as Haverford downed a ranked opponent for the first time since a 60-47 victory over No. 25 Muhlenberg in the Centennial Conference semifinals last season at Gettysburg.
Haverford shot 42.6 percent from the field for the contest, including a 9-for-11 mark from the charity stripe. The Fords also owned the advantage on the glass, picking up 38 rebounds to just 33 for the Bullets.
After the two squads traded baskets in the early goings, Haverford unleashed a 7-0 run to take an 11-4 lead with 5:56 remaining in the opening quarter. Macy Goldbach connected on her first three-pointer of the game during that stretch. A trey from Anna-Sophia Capizzi helped the Fords open up an 11-point cushion at 17-6, as the Fords ended the quarter up 10 at 17-7. Gettysburg was able to cut the lead to just five at 21-16 with 6:57 remaining in the first half, but the Fords used a Furch jumper to take a 13-point lead with 4:28 remaining. The lead would again be 10 heading into the intermission, as Carly Rice drilled a three-pointer for the hosts in the closing moments.
The Fords went into the locker room up 31-21, and immediately came out firing to start the third quarter. Back-to-back buckets from Furch and Capizzi, coupled with a turnover that allowed Maddie Gallic to finish in the paint, saw the lead grow to 16 at 31-27. The run was punctuated with a Goldbach layup for an 18-point advantage with 6:07 remaining in the stanza. The lead would continue to hover in double digits for the remainder of the contest, reaching 20 with 7:39 to go in the fourth quarter following a Julianna Clark layup.
Capizzi made it a 22-point game on the next Haverford possession, and a Goldbach layup with just under five minutes remaining in the contest gave the lead its apex of 24 points.
The Fords' stifling defensive effort held the top team in the Centennial Conference to just 30.9 percent shooting, and a 3-of-25 mark from beyond the arc. The Fords scored 14 points off turnovers, using a full-court press to frustrate the Gettysburg offensive rhythm. In addition to Furch's 17-point performance, Goldbach added 15 while Capizzi poured in 12. Five different Fords recorded at least four rebounds, while Gallic had a game-best seven. Ashley Gehrin was the only Bullets player in double figures, notching 11 points.
The Fords now travel 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.