HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's basketball team played tough from start to finish in its 58-52 Centennial Conference loss to visiting Washington College Wednesday evening at Gooding Arena. Despite being down by double-digits in each half, the Fords mounted rallies to get back into the game and give Washington all it could handle.
Dominique Meeks posted her ninth double-double of the season, leading all players with 18 points and 12 rebounds for Haverford (8-12, 5-10 CC). Victoria Sobocinski added 14 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the field. Cara Wyant scored nine points and collected six rebounds off the bench.
Washington (9-10, 7-7) established an early 5-0 lead, but Haverford quickly shot its way into the game. Nina Voith's trey at the 12:31 mark tied the score at 10-all. The Fords made four of their first six from the arc to take an 18-14 lead. Sobocinski hit a pair within a two-minute span to provide the four-point lead.
The Shorewomen took back the lead by outscoring Haverford 19-7 to close the first half. Washington opened the run with an 8-1 dash that saw three's from Sally O'Donnell and Kelly Mitchell. Washington led 26-19 as the first half neared the five-minute mark and bumped its lead up to 13 on an O'Donnell layup. The Fords finished the half on a 6-1 run and pulled within eight, 33-25, as Miller hit a runner in the lane as time expired.
Washington's lead hovered between six and nine points through the first eight minutes of the second half. Meeks single-handedly took over the game in the last 12-plus minutes, scoring 12 of the Fords' last 17 points. She made a jumper with 12:16 showing, followed by two free throws two minutes later to make it a three-point game, 40-37. The Shorewomen responded with an 11-0 run to go ahead by 12, 51-39, with 7:42 left.
Meeks cut the deficit in half with baskets on three consecutive possessions, but that was as close as the Fords got as Meghan Tait hit a jumper on the next possession. Although both teams missed their fair share of shots in final five minutes the Shorewomen went up by 11 with 50 seconds remaining, but a trio of buckets and a free throw pulled HC within the final margin of six.
O'Donnell finished the night with a team-high 17 points for the Shorewomen. Mitchell scored 16 points off the bench while Erin Fitzgerald added 11.
The Fords heated up to a 52 percent clip from the field in the second half thanks to 18 points in the paint. Washington's bench outscored HC, 22-9.
Haverford hits the road Saturday, traveling to McDaniel College for a 1 p.m. tip-off.