HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College women's basketball team (3-1) closed out an 57-48 victory over Neumann (2-3) on Thursday evening inside Gooding '84 Arena, thanks in part to a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double from Cortlyn Morris. The Fords also received 13 points from Annabelle Copeland, while Ally Landau had eight points and nine rebounds to go with six assists in a well-rounded effort. The Fords dominated on the glass all night long, holding a 48-31 advantage in rebounds and a commanding 21-4 advantage on the offensive glass. Kayla Robinson was again a big part of that effort in her 19 minutes of work yet again, posting nine total rebounds including six offensive boards.
Haverford got out to a hot start in the early goings, beginning the contest on a 10-4 run behind strong guard play from Gia Flamini and Landau. The Fords capitalized on some early turnovers from the Knights, as the visitors struggled from the field in the first quarter, connecting on just four field goals in the opening stretch.
Lauren Howard knocked down a trey to lengthen the lead to 13-4, and soon it was the Fords up 17-4 with Morris finishing a put-back attempt with under two minutes in the quarter, putting a bow on a sustained 10-0 Haverford run. A 7-0 spurt helped Neumann regain some confidence, crawling back to within six in the opening moments of the second quarter. Neumann hovered around that six point deficit before the Fords found another gear, ending the half on a 9-2 run behind 10 points from Morris at the break.
The second opened with Neumann hot from beyond the arc, as the visitors connected on a pair of triples from Chelsea Keebler in the opening two minutes of the stanza, trimming the Haverford advantage to just eight at 32-24. Keebler finished with 12 points to lead Neumann on the night as she scored all her points from three-point range.
Morris connected on a layup to extend the lead back to 10 in the waning moments of the third quarter, and the teams traded buckets in the closing two minutes with Landau finding Morris with an excellent pass that the junior floated home for a layup to extend the lead back to 12 at 42-30. Flamini then found the back of the net to extend the lead to its apex of 14 at 44-30, and Haverford charged into the final quarter with a 12 point advantage.
Neumann trimmed that lead down to just four at 47-43, using a quick 9-0 run to get right back in the thick of things with under five minutes to play in regulation. Haverford was methodical in its defensive pressure down the stretch to keep the Knights from completing their comeback bid. A bucket in traffic from Annabelle Copeland helped extend the lead back to eight with 2:52 remaining. The game would be decided from the charity stripe from that point forward, as Erin Albright and Landau made their shots down the stretch to reflect the 11-point differential.
The Fords improved to 4-2 all-time against Neumann, as the two sides were facing off for the first time since the 1984-85 season despite just 15 miles separating the two campuses.
Women's Basketball now opens up Centennial Conference action on Saturday, taking on Dickinson at 1 p.m. inside Gooding '84 Arena. The Red Devils were picked to finish fourth in the Centennial Conference, one spot below the Fords in the annual preseason prognostication. The contest will be the first game of a doubleheader that also sees the men's team taking on Rosemont at 3 p.m.