WESTMINSTER, Md. - Elizabeth Lynch topped all scorers with a career-high 26 points, including a program-record six three-pointers, as the Haverford College women's basketball team used a second-half surge to take down host McDaniel College, 58-46, in Centennial Conference action at the Gill Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Fords (9-1, 5-1 CC) broke open a tight contest by scoring 22 of the first 27 points of the second half. Haverford's one-point halftime lead grew to 18 points with eight minutes remaining on the clock after the dominating run that featured 10 straight points from Lynch including two three-pointers. The Fords were just as impressive on the defensive end of the floor as the Green Terror (8-4, 3-3) hit just two of their initial 20 field-goal attempts after intermission.
The Haverford defense continued to blanket McDaniel as the hosts were never able to pull within single digits over the remainder of the afternoon.
A tightly-contested first half saw the Fords move out to a 16-8 lead at the 12:39 mark on the strength of 4-for-4 shooting from three-point distance. Undefeated at home this season, the Green Terror responded with a 12-4 run that enabled them to tie the game at 20-20 on a layup by freshman Karli Zeps with four and a half minutes remaining until the break. Haverford never relinquished the lead however, as back-to-back buckets by Cara Wyant and Nina Voith and two fouls shots from Jacquelyne Pizzuto, put the Fords ahead by six, 26-20, before McDaniel closed within one at intermission.
Leading the team in scoring for the fourth time this season, Lynch finished 6-for-9 from behind the arc. The junior forward also added six rebounds, two blocks, two steals and one assist in 30 minutes of action.
Voith joined Lynch in double figures with 11 points to go along with five rebounds. Pizzuto chipped in with nine points and a game-high six assists. Despite not scoring a point in the game, junior guard Rachel Baskin was a factor in the outcome with five assists and a team-high seven rebounds.
McDaniel entered the contest only having allowed 20 three-pointers on the season, the ninth-best mark in all of Division III, but the Fords went 8-for-18 from distance on their way to their seventh straight win over the Green Terror.
Zeps paced McDaniel with a career-high 15 points while Emma Wingerd grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds to go along with six points.
The Fords held the Green Terror's leading scorer Steph Perez without a shot in the first half as the junior guard tallied just three points in the game on a 1-for-6 effort from the field. McDaniel's season-low scoring output was almost 16 points below the squad's average of 61.9 points per game.
Haverford's tough Centennial slate continues on Tuesday as it welcomes defending conference champion Gettysburg College (7-4, 3-3) to Gooding Arena at 6 p.m.