ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Elizabeth Lynch and Dominique Meeks helped the Haverford College women's basketball team secure another monumental Centennial Conference win in an increasingly memorable season as the Fords knocked off 18th-ranked Muhlenberg College, 58-55, at Memorial Hall on Wednesday night.
Haverford (13-5, 8-5 CC) ties the program record for most wins in a season, achieved by the 1990-91 squad, with just the second win over the Mules (14-3, 9-3) in program history and first-ever victory in Allentown.
The Fords served notice right from the opening tip that Muhlenberg was in for a battle as it jumped out to an early 13-9 lead five and a half minutes into the contest. Every possession was closely guarded as the game remained tight with a 14-14 tie at the 10 minute mark of the half and a 20-20 tie with five minutes left on the clock before intermission. Haverford scored six of the last seven points of the half, including a Jacquelyne Pizzuto layup with four seconds remaining to head to the locker room with a 29-24 advantage.
Meeks spearheaded the Fords' attack with 12 points and eight rebounds in the opening stanza but Haverford exhibited a total team effort on both ends of the floor as it shot 52 percent from the field, 13-for-25, and tallied 10 assists on 13 field goals. The Fords really took charge on the defensive end as they slowed down the high-powered Muhlenberg attack, holding senior guard Alexandra Chili, the leading scorer in the conference with an average of 17.5 a game, to just five points, and out-rebounded the Mules 20-13.
Muhlenberg scored the first eight points of the second half to take a 33-29 lead with 17:08 remaining. The Mules managed to push the lead to five, 39-34, with 12:46 on the clock when the Haverford rally began. Elizabeth Lynch nailed her first of three straight shots from behind the arc at the 10:43 mark to kick off an 8-2 run over the next two and a half minutes to put the Fords up 45-41. Haverford's Calla Miller broke a 47-47 tie with a little more than five minutes remaining in the contest and then Pizzuto added another long range bomb to increase the Fords' lead to 52-47 at 4:19. Muhlenberg would cut the lead to three but Lynch stepped up again with a three pointer to stretch the Fords' lead back to six with just minutes to go. The Mules clawed all the way back to trail by three with only 10 seconds remaining but Haverford shut the door defensively and earned the upset victory.
The Fords held Muhlenberg, owner of the tenth highest scoring offense in the country at 76.1 points a game, to its lowest offensive output of the season. Haverford's second-ranked defense in the conference pestered the Mules, one of the most profilic three-point shooting teams in the Centennial, to just 14.3 percent from behind the arc (3-of-21).
Lynch finished with 16 points, 14 in the second half, on 6-of-7 shooting from the field including 4-of-5 from behind the three point line. Meeks chipped in with 15 points and took game-high rebounding honors with 11. Pizzuto tied her career high with seven assists on the night.
Alita Zabrecky led the Mules with 13 points on just 3-of-15 shooting from the field. Chili, who needed 12 points heading into the game to become Muhlenberg's all-time leading scorer among men and women was held to seven points on 3-of-16 shooting including 1-of-8 from behind the arc.
The Fords look to add to their program-record eight conference wins Saturday at Franklin & Marshall at 2 p.m.