SWARTHMORE, Pa. - The Haverford College women's basketball team (18-7, 14-6 CC) secured a first-round bye in the upcoming Centennial Conference tournament by virtue of a 55-40 victory over Swarthmore (13-10, 9-9 CC) on Wednesday night at Tarble Pavilion.
In a methodical two-way performance, Cortlyn Morris proved to be a standout with 20 points, seven blocks, six rebounds, and four assists, leading her squad on both ends of the court and serving as a swarming, intimidating presence for Haverford. Ally Landau tallied in double digits, pouring in 10 points, while Kayla Robinson narrowly missed a double-double, with nine points and 11 rebounds. The Fords held a slight 34-33 rebounding advantage, but the nation's top scoring defense made their presence felt with 12 blocks.
Swarthmore came out forceful, looking to complete the season sweep on its home court as the two sides were evenly matched in the opening moments. The Fords grabbed command with a 13-2 run, taking an 19-8 lead with 34 seconds left in the opening quarter following another bucket from Morris. The momentum carried into the second period, as Haverford had no plans on looking back, taking that same 11-point advantage into the intermission behind strong play from Morris and Robinson on the interior while Gia Flamini and Landau handled guard duties with aplomb.
Morris later scored the first points of the third quarter as the Fords began the second half on a 6-2 spurt. Alyssa Hayashi put a stop to the run with a layup that came with 5:29 to play in the stanza, but a Caroline Andersen layup with just 58 seconds remaining in the third put Haverford up by 18 heading into the final sequence.
The start of the fourth quarter was a bit sluggish offensively for both teams, but the Fords kept up their momentum with the lead hovering in the high teens for most of the quarter. Haverford put to bed any thought of a miraculous comeback bid from the Garnet as Flamini connected on a dagger three-pointer with 1:53 to go, giving the Fords a comfortable 52-35 lead. Swarthmore extended the game to send Haverford to the free-throw line, but Landau drove to the basket for one final time in the regular season to ice things with 21 seconds to play.
Hayashi had a double-double for the hosts, adding 15 points to 10 rebounds. Haverford limiited the Centennial Conference's leading scorer, Dana Bandurick, to just 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting from the field. Bandurick went 4-of-4 from the charity stripe on Wednesday.
Haverford has now evened the season series with the Garnet, earning vital Hood Trophy points in the all-sports series between the two sides. The Fords have a commanding edge in the recent women's basketball series, winning nine of the last 10 meetings between the two programs.
With the regular season now concluded, the Fords turn their attention to the Centennial Conference semifinals. The matchup, with either Gettysburg or Johns Hopkins, is slated for Friday, February 25 at a site and time to be determined.