HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College women's basketball team (4-2) was defeated by visiting Catholic (7-0) by a final score of 72-65 on Tuesday evening inside Gooding '84 Arena, despite outscoring the Cardinals 32-26 over the final two periods of action. Megan Furch recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while reigning Centennial Conference Player of the Week Anna-Sophia Capizzi poured in 20 points for the Fords. Cortlyn Morris (13 points) and Julianna Clark (12) each also tallied in double digits. Clark added a career-best eight rebounds and five assists to her ledger. Unfortunately for Haverford, a fast-paced Cardinals offense was too much to overcome as Sydney Poindexter matched Capizzi's 20 point effort and added 12 rebounds of her own, notching a double-double and pacing three Catholic players in double-figure scoring.
Catholic sprinted out to an 11-6 lead with Erin Doherty connecting on a triple with 6:16 left in the opening quarter to cap the run. Haverford had an immediate answer, with Capizzi cutting the lead to just two with a trey of her own. Doherty then converted from distance with just over two minutes remaining in the stanza to restore a seven-point lead for the visitors, and buckets from Rachel Bussanic and Amanda Johnson in the closing moments of the period then gave the visitors a nine-point lead at 24-15.
The lead stretched to 11 before Clark brought the Fords back within eight, draining a three-pointer with 5:43 remaining in the half. A methodical run for Catholic built the Cardinals lead to 15 with just 2:50 to go before the intermission, with Poindexter connecting on a runner to finish the stretch. Doherty and Poindexter also chipped in points in the final two minutes of the half as Catholic held a 19-point lead at 48-29 entering the break.
Capizzi began the second half with a three, and cut the lead down to 16 with a layup just moments later. The run eventually hit 15-4 for Haverford as Clark again connected from deep-range, trimming the lead to just eight with under four minutes to play in the third. Haverford had a comeback squarely on its mind as Furch went to the free-throw line, knocking down a pair to trim the Catholic lead down to just six at 55-48 entering the final minute of the third.
A 7-1 Catholic run, spanning the closing seconds of the third and the first five minutes of the fourth, was interrupted by another three-pointer from Capizzi, trimming the lead to 10 with 5:16 remaining in regulation. The Fords gave one final push, with strong defense forcing Catholic into some off-kilter shots and turnovers, before a 6-0 run trimmed the lead to just seven at 70-63 with one minute to play as Nyla Robinson poured in a layup.
With Haverford forced to foul in the final moments, Catholic was able to escape with a 72-65 victory as Maggie Bednarek hit a pair of close-out free-throws in the waning seconds. Catholic limited turnovers, committing only 10 while scoring 17 points off Haverford turnovers. The visitors also held a slight 40-39 advantage in the rebounding battle, while Haverford again excelled from the free-throw line, knocking down 9-of-11 from the charity stripe.
Women's Basketball will now be away from competition through the Thanksgiving holiday break. The Fords will return to action on Wednesday, December 4 at Franklin & Marshall. Tip-off time for the Centennial Conference matchup is slated for 6 p.m and will be followed by the Haverford men taking on the Diplomats at approximately 8 p.m.