CHESTERTOWN, Md. - The Haverford College women's basketball team etched its way into the program record book once again Wednesday night with a 50-41 Centennial Conference victory over Washington College at the Cain Center.
The Fords (14-6, 9-6 CC) establish a new program record for wins in a season with only the second victory ever in Chestertown and snap a five-game losing streak to the Shorewomen (11-9, 6-9).
Never trailing in the contest, Haverford jumped out to an 11-2 advantage seven minutes into the game as it hit its first five shots from the field. On the other end of the court, the Fords clamped down on the Washington offense holding the Shorewomen to just 2-of-16 shooting from the floor in the first 12 minutes of the contest. Haverford extended its lead to 15 with just under three minutes remaining in the half, before Washington scored the last seven points before intermission to cut the Fords' lead to eight, 26-18.
Haverford enjoyed a 48 percent shooting effort (12-of-25) in the first half while holding the Shorewomen to a meager 23 percent (6-of-26). The Fords also hung tough on the boards with Washington, one of the leading rebounding squads in the conference, as they matched rebounds, 17-17.
Washington scored the first six points after the break to cut the Fords' advantage to two early in the second half. Sparked by stellar outside shooting over the next four minutes, Haverford went on a 12-2 run to open up a 38-26 lead with 13:04 left in the contest. The Fords went 4-of-4 from beyond the arc in that stretch, as Victoria Sobocinski sandwiched two three pointers around a Washington bucket before Jacquelyne Pizzuto capped the run with two long-range bombs of her own. The Shorewomen managed to trim the lead to five with just over three and a half minutes on the clock but a jumper by Haverford's Dominique Meeks at the 2:30 mark and Rachel Baskin's steal on the ensuing possession squelched thoughts of a Washington comeback. The Fords went 5-of-6 from the free throw line in the last 50 seconds to seal the victory.
Haverford held the Shorewomen to their lowest offensive output of the season, well below their 60.6 average, as Washington became the 16th opponent held to under 40 percent shooting from the field by the Fords this season.
Leading the way for Haverford for the second straight game, Pizzuto tallied 12 points to register her second-straight double figure outing and third in the last four games. Pizzuto also added six rebounds and three assists to lead the Fords across the stat sheet. Elizabeth Lynch added 10 points as she went 3-of-6 from behind the arc. Contributions came from up and down the line-up as eight Haverford players found the scoring column.
Washington's Meghan Tait, pestered into a 5-of-16 shooting effort, took game-high honors with 15 points including the 1,000th of her career. Latisha Pledger grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Shorewomen.
After enduring three-straight tough conference road tests, the Fords look forward to continuing their quest for a spot in the Centennial playoffs at Gooding Arena Saturday against McDaniel College at 1 p.m.