WESTMINSTER, Md. – The Haverford College women's basketball team worked overtime on the road Thursday night to slide past McDaniel College, 50-43, in Centennial Conference action.
The fourth straight victory by the Fords (10-3, 6-3 CC) is the second four-game winning streak this season, while the Green Terror (7-7, 4-6) suffered their fourth straight defeat.
The top-ranked defense in the conference made its presence felt early in the game as the Fords turned an early 3-2 deficit at the 16:37 mark into a 15-3 advantage with just under 12 minutes remaining in the half. Five different players scored during the 13-point swing as the Fords pressured McDaniel into 0-for-6 shooting from the field and three turnovers during that time. Haverford still held a 10-point advantage, 19-9, with six and a half minutes to go in the half before a late spurt by McDaniel trimmed the Haverford edge to 24-19 going into intermission.
The sound first-half defensive effort forced 12 turnovers and tallied six steals while holding McDaniel leading-scorer Steph Perez off the score sheet. Freshman guard Elizabeth Lynch figured prominently in the opening half offense for Haverford as she struck for ten points including two three-pointers.
Haverford would extend its lead to as many as 18, 43-25, with 9:36 remaining in the second half but the Green Terror chipped away as the Fords experienced a cold spell on offense and McDaniel narrowed the score to 43-40 with a minute left in the contest. A desperation three by McDaniel's Perez with 14 ticks left on the clock banked off the backboard and found the bottom of the net to knot the score at 43-43 and send the game into the extra session.
Calla Miller scored the first bucket of overtime with 3:32 remaining and the Fords' defense took over from there pressuring McDaniel into turnovers on two of the next three possessions. Jacquelyne Pizzuto's three pointer at the 1:35 mark provided some breathing room, 48-43, until Miller sunk two free throws with 34 seconds remaining to close out the scoring.
Overall, Haverford pestered McDaniel into 0-for-7 shooting from the field and three turnovers to blank the Green Terror in the extra session.
Miller and Lynch both tallied 10 points to lead Haverford. Dominique Meeks snatched 12 rebounds to lead the Fords and added nine points and four steals. Rachel Baskin chipped in across the breadth of the stat sheet with six points, seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and one block.
McDaniel's Perez and Rachael Rybak shared game-high honors as they each scored 12 points while Emma Wingerd grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Green Terror.
Haverford returns home on Saturday afternoon as it welcomes Centennial foe Johns Hopkins to Gooding Arena for a 1 p.m. tip.