Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer

Fords capture Wheaton tournament crown with win over host

Dominique Meeks '13.
Dominique Meeks '13.

NORTON, Mass. – Haverford College's women's basketball team ran its season-opening win streak to three with Sunday afternoon's 53-39 victory over host Wheaton College in the Wheaton Tip-Off Tournament championship game.

The Fords (3-0) broke away from the Lyons (1-2) early in the second half, stretching a narrow 26-24 halftime lead into a 41-29 bulge in less than eight minutes of action. Wheaton tried to fight back with a pair of unanswered layups to trim the advantage to eight but Haverford salted the game away with a 10-0 run over the next five minutes.

Haverford limited the Lyons to only 28 percent shooting from the floor over the final 20 minutes. The Fords forced the home team into 23 turnovers in the game and cashed in with 18 points off those miscues. 

Dominique Meeks did the most damage for Haverford in its offensive end, knocking down 18 points and pulling down six of her team-high nine rebounds. Rachel Baskin continued her solid weekend for the Fords with four points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals, and freshman Elizabeth Lynch maintained the hot start to her initial collegiate season scoring all nine of her points from behind the three-point arc.

Calla Miller scored eight points, pulled down six rebounds and added three assists and joined Meeks, the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, on the all-tournament squad. 

Melissa McLaughlin led the offensive effort for the Lyons with eight points, while Gabbie DePalo registered a team-best nine rebounds.

Wheaton got off to a fast start in the opening half streaking out to a 20-10 lead with just over nine minutes remaining until the break. Lynch nailed her second three-pointer of the game, though, to ignite the Fords on a 16-6 run to close out the half with the lead.

The Fords open up their Centennial Conference slate with the next game, traveling to Baltimore, Md., Tuesday evening to square off against Johns Hopkins University.