COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. - In the nightcap of a men's and women's doubleheader at Ursinus College, the Haverford College women's basketball team (14-3, 11-1 CC) came away with a 64-59 victory over the host Bears (6-12, 5-8 CC) at Helfferich Hall on the Ursinus campus.
Anna-Sophia Capizzi paced all scorers with 22 points, while Julianna Clark added 16 in the contest. Cortlyn Morris recorded the first double-double effort of her young collegiate career, adding 12 points to a career-best 14 rebounds.
The two sides were deadlocked early, with both teams fighting for control of the momentum. Capizzi connected on her first three of the contest to give Haverford a 13-10 lead, and later poured in her second to bring Haverford to a six-point edge with 4:34 to go in the quarter, capping a game-high 8-0 run. Ursinus used a quick 6-0 spurt of its own to even the score at 16-16 with 1:44 left in the first, but Capizzi again put her stamp on the game with a three in the final seconds of the quarter to put Haverford up two at 19-17.
A 7-2 spurt to begin the second was highlighted by Clark draining a trey with just over seven minutes remaining in the half, and Haverford eventually stretched its advantage to 11 as Clark again connected from deep with 4:50 to play in the quarter.
After the intermission, Ursinus began the third with a 9-4 stretch to pull to within a single possession following a three-pointer from Gabby Downs. Downs again connected from beyond the arc with 3:38 remaining, cutting the Haverford lead to just two at 42-40. The Fords stretched their lead back out to eight early in the fourth as Capizzi finished a layup, but Ursinus proved they would not go away, with Alyssa Martin trimming the lead back down to two, adding a three-pointer with 4:27 to play.
A quick 5-0 jaunt for the Fords helped ease thoughts of a sustained Ursinus surge, as Morris put Haverford up eight at 60-52, finishing a layup with just 93 seconds remaining in regulation. Ursinus got back within five on three occasions in the waning moments of the contest, but Haverford was able to ice the game from the free-throw line late, with Clark and Nyla Robinson getting the job done from the charity stripe down the stretch.
On the defensive end, Haverford collected nine steals, with Capizzi adding a career-best five. The Fords committed 15 turnovers, but Haverford was able to turn 16 Bears miscues into 20 points while Ursinus poured in just nine off Haverford turnovers. Aliyah Stephens paced Ursinus with 20 points, while Lydia Konstanzer also grabbed a double-double with 12 points and a game-best 19 rebounds.
Haverford has now won six straight contests against Ursinus, sweeping the season series with the Bears for the third consecutive year.
The Fords now return home for a weekend showdown with Dickinson at 1 p.m. on Saturday, February 1. The contest will be followed by the Haverford men hosting the Red Devils at approximately 3 p.m.