HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's basketball team came out on top of an exciting and down-to-the-wire victory over Franklin & Marshall College, 54-52, Saturday afternoon at Gooding Arena. Dominique Meeks' layup with 18 seconds gave the Fords the lead, but F&M still had a chance.
Meeks was fouled on the layup and missed her free throw. The Diplomats had a chance to tie or take the lead, but turned the ball over with three seconds left. Calla Miller scooped up the loose ball and was fouled, but missed both her foul shots. Colleen Bott grabbed the rebound and Franklin & Marshall (8-9, 4-8 CC) called timeout with 2.9 seconds.
The Diplomats had to go the length of the floor and nearly pulled it off. The inbound pass was tipped by Meeks and an F&M player caught the pass and sent an outlet pass to Beth Holt on the right wing. Holt's three went in the basket, but was shot after time had expired, giving the Fords their first win over F&M in seven tries.
In the first half, F&M jumped out to a four-point lead nearly six minutes in, but the Fords responded with a 5-0 run to go ahead by a point, 10-9. The Diplomats regained the lead, but HC scored the next six points and this time held the lead for the remainder of the half. Haverford (5-10, 3-8 CC) took an eight-point lead, 23-15, with 4:50 left. The most impressive part about the run was the Fords did it without their leading scorer Nina Voith, who was on the bench in foul trouble for the final 10 minutes.
The Diplomats got within three thanks to layups by Bott and Holt. After a good jumper by Liz Mayell, on the next possession Nia Richardson converted both her free throws with 23 seconds to keep it a five-point game, 29-24, heading into the break.
Haverford increased its second half lead to eight points almost six minutes in, but a 5-0 Diplomats run tied the score at 39-all capped by an Alexa Barbush layup. F&M took its first lead of the half at the 11:25 mark on a Bott layup. The Fords took back the lead, but F&M tied it up again on an Emily Johnson free throw. When Miller made the back end of a two-shot foul with 8:09 Haverford took the lead, 46-45, and never trailed again.
Field goals by Voith and Miller gave the Fords a four-point advantage, but layups by Bott and Barbush tied the score, 50-50. As the game approached the 3:30 mark, Miller stepped in front of an F&M pass at the top of the key and went in for a layup to put HC up by two.
After Holt missed a jumper on the ensuing possession F&M fouled immediately. Sara Cram missed both free throws and when F&M got the ball back they tied the score on Amy Chabitnoy's layup with 2:56 left. Neither team could convert on their next three possessions, until Meeks layup broke the tie with 18 ticks left.
Despite being in foul trouble in the first half, Voith erupted for 12 points in the second and finished with a game-high 18 for Haverford. Meeks finished the day with 10 points and six rebounds. Miller added seven points and dished out four assists while collecting five steals.
Barbush and Bott led F&M with 13 points apiece. Barbush was a rebound shy of a double-double. Allison Bauer scored 10 points.
The Scarlet and Black hit the road for two games next week starting with a Wednesday evening contest at Muhlenberg College which starts at 6 p.m.