WESTMINSTER, Md. – The Haverford College women's basketball team extended its overall and conference win streak to four with another close victory over host McDaniel on Thursday night at the Gill Center, prevailing by a final score of 49-43. Haverford was paced by a standout night from Sierra Berkel, who posted a double-double with a career-best 20 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, notching her 500th career rebound en route to her 17th career double-double effort. Berkel was an impressive 8-of-9 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line on the night.
Haverford shot 45 percent from the field on the night to just 24 percent for the host Green Terror. The Fords improve to 8-4 (6-2 Centennial) with the victory while McDaniel falls to 6-7 (4-4 Centennial) in the home loss. Haverford picked up its first win at the Gill Center since 2014 with the triumph.
With tonight's result, coupled with other scores from around the conference, Haverford is now sitting in a tie with Dickinson for first place in the conference standing.
Berkel was a force for the Fords all night, helping to provide the difference in what was yet another battle as the last six contests for Haverford have now been decided by less than 10 points.
In the second quarter, the Fords opened up a 17-11 lead thanks to a three-pointer from Macy Goldbach, the only three of the contest for the visitors, and a mid-range jumper from Samantha Wetzel. The Green Terror rallied to tie the contest at 19-19 with 5:03 left in the first half, but Berkel hit a pair of layups to give the Fords a three point advantage at 23-19.
The Fords took a three point lead into the halftime break at 27-24. A Berkel layup with 4:25 left in the third quarter opened up a four-point advantage at 35-31 and the Flushing, N.Y. product upped the lead to five at 37-32 after hitting a pair of free throws with 2:43 left in the quarter.
Unfazed, McDaniel remained in the contest, using an Alyssa March layup to tie the score at 39-39 with 8:34 remaining in regulation. Maddie Gallic and Goldbach connected on shots ahead of a pair of free throws from Berkel as the Fords opened up a 6-0 run on the visitors with 4:14 remaining. Liv Storer made a pair from the charity stripe to cut the lead to 45-41 but Goldbach hit a key bucket on the other end of the court at the 2:10 mark.
With just under a minute left, Karli Zeps stole the ball from Wetzel near midcourt and ran the remaining length of the floor for an easy layup, breathing some late life into the Green Terror. McDaniel called for timeout and Haverford set up its offense with a four point advantage at 47-43. The ball again found Berkel on the post and the Haverford tri-captain sealed a new career-high with an off-balance shot that found the bottom of the net to seal the victory at 49-43.
Haverford had just five scorers in the contest as Wetzel reached double figures with 10 points to go with six rebounds. Macy Goldbach poured in nine while Maddie Gallic added seven points. Megan Furch had three points while Katie Cook posted seven rebounds.
For McDaniel, Zeps led the way with 12 points on a 4-of-13 shooting effort while March had a team-best eight rebounds.
The Fords now return to action at home on Saturday against Johns Hopkins as conference play continues. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. at the Gooding '84 Arena with the Haverford men's game to follow at 3 p.m.