Women's Basketball Expels Diplomats, 75-51

Anna-Sophia Capizzi
Anna-Sophia Capizzi
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HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College women's basketball team (12-3, 9-1 CC) posted a methodical 75-51 victory over visiting Franklin & Marshall (5-11, 3-8 CC) in Centennial Conference action Wednesday evening inside Gooding '84 Arena. Reigning Centennial Conference Player of the Week Anna-Sophia Capizzi narrowly missed her newly established career-best, pouring in 28 points to lead all scorers. Julianna Clark added 19 points, and Megan Furch had a standout performance in the front court, grabbing nine rebounds. In total, Haverford held a 38-32 advantage on the glass, and limited the conference's top free-throw shooting team to just nine attempts from the charity stripe. 

Haverford began the contest on an 11-2 run, with Capizzi and Clark each knocking down treys in the first three minutes of the opening quarter. Clark then scooped a steal and drilled her second three-pointer of the game with 6:50 showing on the game clock. Nyla Robinson converted a layup with under two minutes left in the stanza to extend the Haverford run to 15-4, and Megan Furch promptly hit a jumper at the end of the first quarter as Haverford held a 17-6 advantage. 

Capizzi scored twice in the span of 27 seconds to send Haverford to a 25-8 lead midway through the second, and that lead reached 18 as Hannah Zoll drained a jumper. A 10-3 stretch for the Diplomats cut the Haverford lead back down to 11, but Capizzi calmly drilled a three with under two minutes remaining in the half as the Fords finished the stanza on a 6-0 run to head into the intermission up by 17 at 41-24.

A swift 4-0 Diplomats run out of halftime gates was quickly stymied as Clark connected on a trey, extending the lead to 20 at 52-32 with 3:11 remaining in the third. Haverford led by 18 entering the final quarter, and Capizzi hit again from downtown to begin the fourth quarter scoring, giving the Fords a 21-point cushion at 61-40. Haverford did not give the Diplomats much to work with on the offensive end in the third, applying defensive pressure in close-out mode.

The lead hit 23 as Capizzi finished a layup with under seven minutes left in the contest, and the advantage reached 26 as Nyla Robinson finished a jumper with just 3:38 to go. The Fords took their largest lead of the contest with just 1:20 to play, as Lauren Howard knocked down the ninth three pointer of the night for a 28-point cushion. 

Kristin Hamill was the leading scorer for the visitors, adding 12 points and five rebounds. Kenna Williams had eight boards to pace the Diplomats, who were limited to just a 4-for-13 performance from beyond the arc.

The Fords have now won 16 straight meetings against Franklin & Marshall, a stretch that dates back to the 2011-12 season. 

Women's Basketball will return to action on Saturday, continuing the home swing with a matinee meeting against Bi-Co neighbor Bryn Mawr at Gooding Arena. Tip-off time against the Owls is slated for 1 p.m. and the meeting will be followed by the Haverford men hosting No. 15 Johns Hopkins at approximately 3 p.m. to wrap up the doubleheader.