HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's basketball team will host the Gettysburg College Bullets on Tuesday in the first round of the Centennial Conference playoffs at the Gooding '84 Arena beginning at 7 p.m.
It's the first time in program history that the Fords have reached the conference playoffs four straight years. Haverford won the Centennial Conference Championship for the first time last season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The women's basketball team is led by senior Elizabeth Lynch, who averages a team-high 12.1 points per game. Lynch became one of only six players in history to reach the 1,000 point mark this season and is closing in on 1,100 in her career (1,090).
Senior point guard Jacquelyne Pizzuto's 5.2 assists per contest lead the conference while she has also added 11.6 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. Freshman Sierra Berkel is third on the team in scoring (8.3), but leads the team in rebounding (7.3) and has the best shooting percentage in the conference (56.4 percent). Senior Shannon Smith is second in the Centennial at 2.6 blocks per game while pouring in 5.8 points and grabbing 5.8 rebounds per contest.
The Bullets' main scoring threat this season has been Jessica Porter (15.3 points), who ranks fifth in the Centennial Conference. Porter is also the team's leading rebounder (7.4) and is second in blocks (1.3). Emily Gibbons comes off the bench and is Gettysburg's second leading scorer (9.8) and rebounder (6.4). Jenna Swope runs the offense with her team-high 3.4 assists while tallying 6.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
Fourth-seeded Haverford has already taken down fifth-seeded Gettysburg twice this season, defeating the Bullets 59-33 on Jan. 13 and 70-56 on Feb. 14. In the Fords' victory in January, the Bullets were held to their lowest scoring total of the season. In the game, Gettysburg shot just 24.5 percent from the floor (13-of-53) while Haverford blocked 10 shots. Berkel nabbed a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds and Smith set a career high with seven blocks.
The Fords completed the season sweep over the Bullets at the Gooding '84 Arena behind a season-best 46 points in the second half of their 70-56 conquest almost two weeks ago. After trailing by as many as 10 in the first half, Haverford only trailed 28-24 at halftime despite shooting 7-of-28 (25 percent). The home team shot 15-of-28 (53.6 percent) in the second stanza to score the comeback victory. It was the fifth consecutive win for the Fords over the Bullets.
The two conference rivals have only met one time in the playoffs with Haverford winning last season in the semifinals 61-49. Nina Voith's '14 game-high 18 points paced the offense as Haverford led wire-to-wire.
The McDaniel Green Terror, ranked No. 25 in the latest D3hoops.com poll, earned the right to host the conference tournament by virtue of its 23-2 record overall and 16-2 conference mark. The winner of the Gettysburg, Haverford game will take on McDaniel in the first conference semifinal on Friday at 6 p.m. at The Gill Center in Westminster, Md.
The second semifinal will feature second-seeded Muhlenberg College and third-seeded Johns Hopkins at 8 p.m. on Friday. The championship game will be Saturday at 4 p.m. The winner of the championship game will have the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Haverford split with Muhlenberg and Johns Hopkins this year while being swept by McDaniel.
Admission for all games is $5 for adults and $3 for students. Youths 12 and under as well as students from participating institutions, who present their ID, are free. All Haverford College staff members will also receive free admission with valid ID.