CHESTERTOWN, Md. – Despite shooting 44 percent from the field, 50 percent from the arc and holding a commanding 41-28 rebounding advantage the Haverford College's women's basketball team lost to host Washington College, 65-56 Wednesday evening.
Haverford (5-13, 3-11 CC) was led by Nina Voith's fifth double-double of the season. The freshman scored a game-high 21 points and collected 10 rebounds. Liz Mayell shot 4-of-5 from the field and finished with nine points. Sara Cram scored seven points, but more impressive were the career-high 15 rebounds she grabbed.
Erin Kile led Washington (9-12, 7-9 CC) with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Meghan Tait added 15 points and Sally O'Donnell pitched in with 14 points.
Washington led 10-9 with 12:26 to go in the first half following a layup by Kile when the Fords went on a 15-2 run to take a 24-12 lead, their biggest cushion of the night, with 6:57 to go in the opening stanza on a Mayell jumper. Mayell scored the final six points of the spurt and Voith added five points. Voith's three-pointer which started the run gave the Fords the lead for the rest of the first half.
The Shorewomen responded with a 15-5 run to close out the first half and cut the Haverford lead to 29-27 at intermission. The run began with a layup by Tait with 6:38 to go and was capped on a pair of free throws by Kile with 11 ticks before halftime.
In the second half, Maggie King snapped a 31-31 tie and put the Shorewomen up for good at 34-31 with 17:31 to go. That basket was the start of a 22-11 Washington run that put them up 53-42 with 8:11 to go. The 11-point lead was Washington's biggest of the evening.
The Fords would cut it to six points on two occasions in the final 8:11, but would draw no closer. The second time Haverford got it to six points was with 2:37 left on a bucket by Voith to trim the Washington lead to 55-49, but O'Donnell made a three on the next trip down with 2:11 left to extend the lead back to nine at 58-49. Washington made five free throws and a jumper in the final 1:41 to ice the victory.
Both teams were even with 20 points in the paint. Haverford held a 9-4 advantage in second chance points, but were doomed by a season-high 32 turnovers.
Haverford returns home Saturday to start a three-game homestand, hosting first-place McDaniel College at 1 p.m.