HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's basketball team used a hot shooting touch in the second half (53.6 percent) en route to a 70-56 victory over the Gettysburg College Bullets at the Gooding '84 Arena on Saturday afternoon.
After a three-pointer by Gettysburg's Jamie Relin gave the visitors a 36-29 lead with 18:04 left in the game, Haverford scored nine of the next 11 points over the next four minutes to take its first lead (39-38) since the 15:16 mark of the first half. After a timeout, the two conference rivals would exchange leads before the Fords would hold the Bullets without a point over a five minute span to expand their advantage to 11 (51-40) with 9:12 remaining.
The Bullets would get within eight points at 53-45 with 8:06 to go in the contest, but a four point outburst would push the Fords' lead back to 12. Gettysburg cut its deficit to single digits one more time, but Haverford answered with a 9-2 run to go up by 16 to put the game out of reach.
Gettysburg had a 28-24 halftime lead after Haverford only shot 7-of-28 (25.0 percent) in the first half. The Bullets led for the final 15 minutes of the half, leading by as many as 10. Head coach Bobbi Morgan's squad would end the final four minutes of the stanza on an 11-5 push to only trail by four heading into the locker room.
The home team heated up in the second half, scoring 46 points, the most its scored in a half this season.
Junior Olivia Walsh set a career high with 15 points in the game. The Fords made 20-of-27 free throws highlighted by Walsh's 11-of-12 outing from the charity stripe. Freshman Samantha Wetzel finished one rebound shy of a double-double, tying her career best with 12 points while grabbing nine rebounds and blocking two shots.
Seniors Elizabeth Lynch (11 points) and Jacquelyne Pizzuto (10 points) also scored in double figures. Lynch, Pizzuto and freshman Anna Schrecengost each tallied five assists as the Fords had 21 assists on 22 made baskets. Haverford also had eight steals led by Lynch's four snags. Freshman Sierra Berkel also added eight points and eight rebounds in the win.
Jessica Porter had game-high 28 points for Gettysburg and nine rebounds in the loss.
With the victory, Haverford improved its record to 14-9 overall and 12-4 in the Centennial Conference, a game and half behind Muhlenberg for second place. Gettysburg dropped to 15-7 on the season and 9-7 in conference play.
After today's action, the playoff teams for the Centennial Conference were decided. The five teams who will battle for the Centennial Conference Championship are McDaniel, Muhlenberg, Haverford, Johns Hopkins and Gettysburg. The Fords will travel to Ursinus on Wednesday before wrapping up the regular season at home vs. Hood Trophy rival, Swarthmore, next Saturday.
A "RED OUT" has been declared by the Haverford Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for both rivalry games against Swarthmore next Saturday.