WESTMINSTER, Md. - The Haverford College women's basketball team (8-2, 5-0 CC) opened up 2020 with a thrilling 54-47 overtime victory over host McDaniel (3-6, 0-5 CC) Saturday afternoon at the Gill Center. Haverford outlasted the Green Terror in the extra period, outscoring the hosts 9-2 in overtime after a defensive deadlock saw the teams knotted at 45-all at the end of regulation.
Anna-Sophia Capizzi paced Haverford with 19 points while Julianna Clark also reached double figures, pouring in 11 thanks to a trio of three-pointers while also adding a career-best nine rebounds. Kayla Robinson had a breakout game, as the first year established new career-best totals in points (5) and rebounds (4) in the win.
Despite a layoff of three weeks, the Fords looked sharp in the early goings, displaying their signature defensive intensity against a hungry Green Terror team that has battled strong with Haverford in recent meetings.
Capizzi got the scoring started with a three-pointer that came just over a minute into the contest. Kayla Robinson drilled a layup with just over four left in the stanza, and added a pair at the free-throw line as the margin hit five in favor of the visitors at 13-8 at the end of the first. Nyla Robinson found Megan Furch down low for a layup to open the second quarter scoring, and the two squads did not find another bucket until Capizzi finished a running layup with just over six minutes remaining, extending the Haverford lead to nine at 17-8.
The methodical 11-2 Haverford run was halted by a quick 11-1 spurt by the Green Terror, as the hosts trimmed the Haverford lead down to just one entering the final minute of the half. McDaniel looked to first year Mallory Conroy to key the sizable run as she scored 11 straight points in an impressive stretch to seize momentum for her squad. The first half came to a close with the score tied at 19.
Clark connected on a trey to give Haverford a three-point lead at 24-23 out of the halftime gates, but Conroy continued her hot string unfazed by the intermission, scoring the first six McDaniel points of the third to restore a slim lead for the hosts.
A Capizzi layup tied the score at 28-28 before a 9-0 run from the Green Terror was punctuated by a trio of three-pointers. Capizzi stopped that run with a crafty layup and Furch then completed a three-point lead to cut the McDaniel lead down to just four at 37-33 entering the final period. Clark connected on a three-pointer to open the fourth, cutting the McDaniel lead to just one. Liv Storer then scored four consecutive points for McDaniel from that point, but a Capizzi runner with just over a minute to play cut down the McDaniel lead back to just three at 45-42. Clark then buried another corner triple to tie the score at 45-45 with just 35.7 remaining, setting up a thrilling finish.
Strong defensive pressure from the Fords limited McDaniel into a poor shot selection on its final offensive possession of regulation, and Haverford promptly called for a timeout with just 5.2 seconds remaining. On the ensuing Haverford possession, Clark appeared to connect on the game-winner at the buzzer, but the attempt was waved off, deemed to be just tenths of a second after the final tick of regulation.
As the two teams descended onto the overtime period, it was the Fords who looked to be the stronger of the two sides, with Nyla Robinson and Hannah Zoll each connecting in the early goings before Haverford added the final five points of the contest from the charity stripe to secure a hard-fought road triumph.
Conroy paced all scorers with 21 points. Anna Mondoro added 15 for the Green Terror. Offensive rebounding proved to be key for the Fords, as Haverford held a 12-2 advantage in second-chance points on the afternoon as the defensive-minded game featured seven ties and three lead changes.
Haverford has now won three consecutive contests with McDaniel, winning the matchup in Westminster for the second straight season. The Fords will face a quick turnaround as the Centennial Conference slate continues, hosting Johns Hopkins in a Tuesday evening contest at Gooding '84 Arena on January 7. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m.