HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College women's basketball team (4-3, 3-1 CC) returned to the win column with a hard-fought 65-55 victory over visiting Ursinus (3-4, 1-3 CC) on Thursday evening inside Gooding Arena. The Fords were paced by five scorers in double figures, as Abby Ryan led the way off the bench with 14 points. Cortlyn Morris added a double-double effort with 11 points and 13 rebounds to go with three blocks, while Kayla Robinson narrowly missed a double-double of her own with 11 points and nine rebounds. Ally Landau came off the bench to tally 13 points, seven assists, and six rebounds while Gia Flamini notched 12 points, including two key makes from beyond the arc.
A quick 13-6 spurt to begin the contest was punctuated by back-to-back buckets from Morris, and despite the Bears firing back to trim the lead to just one at 13-12, the Fords looked to be the aggressor through the first 10 minutes with Morris placing a perfect pass to Ryan for a three-point cushion. Ryan later gave the Fords a five-point lead entering the second at 17-12.
Ryan continued her strong stretch into the second stanza, knocking down Haverford's next five field goals as the Fords went ahead 23-16. Gia Flamini later connected from deep to extend the lead to eight at 26-18 entering the halftime intermission.
Ursinus stuck around to keep the game within striking distance, but the offensive firepower of Ryan and Kayla Robinson was on display in the paint while Landau connected on the perimeter with 5:24 left in the stanza to restore an eight-point Haverford cushion. A runner from Flamini put the Fords ahead by 10 with 3:41 to go in the third, and Morris later converted on two-of-two from the charity stripe as Haverford took its largest lead of the contest at 43-32.
The Bears found themselves back within just five following a layup from Natalie Mehl with 9:34 to go in the final period, but Haverford never really felt fully threatened as Landau and Robinson knocked down key shots down the stretch to extend that lead back to 10 with under a minute to play. A last-ditch comeback effort from Ursinus put the Bears within six in the waning moments as Alison Listani drilled a three-pointer with 11 seconds to go, but Haverford made nine free throws in the last 30 seconds of game action to seal another home conference win.
Haverford held a slight edge on the glass, with 39 rebounds to 37 for the visitors. The Fords shot 40.4 percent from the field on the evening, while holding Ursinus to 31.6 percent, including just a 21.1 percent clip from beyond the arc. Women's Basketball has now won nine straight contests in the all-time series with the Bears.
The Fords now return to action on Saturday, welcoming Franklin & Marshall to Gooding Arena for the final home contest of 2022. The matinee matchup, the first of a doubleheader with the men's team also taking on the Diplomats, is slated for a 1 p.m. start time and will be streamed live via the Centennial Conference Digital Network.