SWARTHMORE, Pa. - In the first of two meetings in the Hood Trophy series with Tri-Co rival Swarthmore, the Haverford College women's basketball team (11-3, 8-1 CC) led wire-to-wire, eventually prevailing over the Garnet (8-6, 5-4 CC) by a final score of 73-42 at Tarble Pavilion. Anna-Sophia Capizzi paced all scorers with a career-best 29 points, adding six rebounds to the effort. Megan Furch (13 points) and Julianna Clark (11 points) also tallied in double figures for Haverford. The Fords dominated on the glass, to the tune of a 42-28 advantage in rebounding, while also pouring in 17 points off of Garnet turnovers.
Haverford began the contest on a 7-0 run as back-to-back buckets from Furch and Capizzi set the tone in the early goings before Capizzi drilled a three-pointer. The defense forced some early miscues from Swarthmore, as the Garnet committed three turnovers before their first points of the contest. Clark knocked down a trey with 4:35 remaining in the first, prompting Swarthmore into a timeout as the Fords fought back quickly against any hopes of early momentum for the hosts with a 12-4 advantage.
Capizzi later connected from deep to extend the lead to 17-8 with under two minutes remaining in the first, but a 6-0 run from the Garnet brought that advantage back to just one possession. Furch knocked down a mid-range jumper to put the Fords up five at the end of the first quarter.
In the second, Clark converted on a layup to stretch the lead to nine at 25-16 before Capizzi finished a scoop and score to put the visitors up 11 at 29-18, with just 4:21 remaining in the half. Furch later converted a jumper, and Clark then went coast-to-coast following a steal on the ensuing Swarthmore possession, pouring in a layup with under 90 seconds remaining in the half to put Haverford up by 15 at 37-22.
Haverford had designs on putting the game away out of the halftime gates, as the Fords began the third on a 9-2 run. Hannah Zoll connected on a three-point play in the stretch, as Haverford renewed its defensive energy with under eight to play. Cortlyn Morris later knocked down a layup to extend the lead to 22 with 6:57 remaining in the third. Capizzi drilled a trey with 3:15 to go, and Haverford found itself up 20 at 53-33. Capizzi connected from beyond the arc again with just minutes left in the stanza, and later hit a layup to put Haverford up 26. The senior capped an 11-2 run that she created herself, hitting her fifth three-pointer of the contest just before the third quarter buzzer.
The Fords continued the run into the final quarter, as the methodical stretch hit 16-0 as Furch completed a three-point play with 4:59 remaining. The free-throw gave Haverford its largest lead of the contest at 34 as the scoreboard read 69-35. Haverford held the Garnet to just seven points in the final stanza, working in some reserves in the latter moments of the contest as Kayla Robinson added four points off the bench.
Nyla Robinson added seven rebounds, while Furch also tallied seven and added three assists. Dana Bandurick and Faith Nation each had 10 points for the Garnet.
The win secured half of a Hood Trophy point in the yearly all-sports series with the Garnet. Haverford has now won nine consecutive contests over Swarthmore, a streak that dates back to 2015. The two squads will next face off in Haverford on Wednesday, February 19 (6 p.m.).
The Fords have a scheduled bye on Saturday, and will return to Centennial Conference play Wednesday at home against Franklin & Marshall. Tip-off time is slated for 6 p.m. as the game will be followed by the Haveford men taking on the Diplomats at approximately 8 p.m.