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2023 Centennial Conference Women's Basketball Championship Central
2023 Centennial Conference Women's Basketball Championship
QUARTERFINALS: Tuesday, Feb. 21 | at #3 & #4 seeds
#6 Washington College d. #3 Dickinson, 56-48 OT
#4 Haverford d. #5 Muhlenberg, 58-46
SEMIFINALS: Friday, Feb. 24 | at #1 & #2 seeds
#6 Washington College at #2 Gettysburg, 7 p.m.
#4 Haverford at #1 Johns Hopkins, 6 p.m.
CHAMPIONSHIP: Sunday, Feb. 26 | at highest remaining seed
Semifinal winners, TBD
HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College women's basketball team will compete in its sixth consecutive Centennial Conference semifinals on Friday evening at Goldfarb Gymnasium on the campus of Johns Hopkins University. The fourth-seeded Fords (16-9) and the top-seeded Blue Jays (20-5) tip-off at approximately 6 p.m. with the winner booking a spot in Sunday's Centennial Conference Championship game, which will be hosted by the top remaining seed. If Haverford wins and Washington College beats Gettysburg, the game will be hosted by Haverford.
REWRITING THE HISTORY BOOKS
Ally Landau led the Fords to victory over Muhlenberg with a career-high 36 points. The junior put on a shooting clinic in front of the home fans, shooting 14-of 27 from the field while hitting six threes. In scoring a career high, Landau also tied two records in the evening. The Livingston, N.J. native tied Haverford's single-game record, and the Centennial Conference playoff record for points.
The broken records did not stop there. Senior Kayla Robinson grabbed a whopping 27 rebounds to go along with her 11 points. With that total, Robinson set the Haverford all-time record for rebounds in a game, overtaking Amy Taylor '92's total of 25 set back in the 1989 season. The senior also set the Centennial Conference record for single-game rebounds in what was truly a special performance.
Lastly, Cortlyn Morris, who already owns the Haverford record for blocks in a single season, added to her total with eight blocks on the night, a Centennial Conference playoff record. The previous record for a Centennial Tournament contest was six. In 32 minutes, the senior center registered four points, four assists, and four rebounds to go along with those eight blocks.
FORDS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Fords come into the contest allowing the third-fewest turnovers in the nation (just 12 per contest) and also have the 19th-ranked scoring defense in the NCAA. The scrappy Centennial Conference features four teams within the top 20 in that category, while Haverford is 9th in blocks per game as a team. Offensively, Kayla Robinson is a presence on the post for Haverford, as she is third in the nation in rebounds per game (14.3), and fifth in total rebounds (358). Robinson also paces the conference in steals per game (2.64), and is the top double-double producer in the Centennial with 20th so far this season, a mark good for fourth in the NCAA.
EVEN MORE RANKINGS
Cortlyn Morris (3.92 blocks per game, 98 total blocks) will look to anchor the defensive presence as she is in the top three nationally in both categories while Ally Landau (17.0 ppg) is second in the CC in scoring. Robinson (13.1 ppg), Gia Flamini (8.2 ppg), Morris (6.4 ppg), and Erin Albright (3.7 ppg) figure to be the starters while Abby Ryan (3.7 ppg), Eleanor Alix (1.3 ppg), and Summer Ryan (1.3 ppg) are the key reserves.
SCOUTING THE BLUE JAYS
This is the fifth time Johns Hopkins has earned the top seed in the Centennial Conference Tournament under the current tournament format. JHU previously earned the number one seed in 2003, 2004, 2011 and 2012. Olivia Parsi is the leading scorer for the Jays, averaging 10.5 points per game. JHU is the fourth-ranked scoring defense in the nation, allowing opponents just 46.2 points per contest.
SEASON SERIES
Johns Hopkins swept the season series from the Fords, taking two extremely close contests. Haverford went down to Baltimore in early January and were turned away, 48-44, as JHU did just enough to eke out the win, holding a two-point lead with under a minute left in the fourth before closing things out at the free-throw line. Olivia Parisi was the difference for Johns Hopkins in the victory at Gooding Arena, as she scored a season-high 25 points and pulled down nine rebounds as again Haverford was within two late before a fourth-quarter run mainly fueled by Parsi. Leading the way for Haverford was Ally Landau, who added 23 points, and Kayla Robinson who finished with 10.
ALL-TIME CC TOURNAMENT SERIES
JHU is 3-2 in Centennial Conference tourney action acgainst the Fords. Haverford grabbed a momentous victory en route to the CC title in 2019, as the two sides met in the second semifinal at Gettysburg. Julianna Clark '21 drilled the game-winner with under 30 seconds remaining in that contest to propel the Fords to the championship game against the host Bullets.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets will be made available at the door to Goldfarb Gymnasium on Friday night. Prices: $5 for adults, $3 for youth 13-18, no charge for children 12 and under. Students from Centennial Conference institutions will be admitted free of charge if they present a valid school ID at the gate.
FOLLOW FROM HOME
Live video and stats will be available for each of the three games, into the weekend via the Centennial Conference Digital Network. Fans are encouraged to check with HaverfordAthletics.com and @HCFords_Sports on Twitter for the latest updates as well as exclusive content via the @HCFordsSports and @HCFordsWBB instagram pages.
CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Haverford has hoisted the Centennial Conference trophy on three occasions (2014, 19, 20), with the last title coming during the 2019-20 season, part of a run of back-to-back titles for the program. Haverford has also earned the top seed on three occasions (2014,17, 20).
SELECTION MONDAY
After automatic bids to the national tournament for Division III are decided this week, the NCAA will announce the at-large teams and bracket on its selection show this coming Monday, February 27 at 2:30 p.m. The NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Selection Show will be streamed live on NCAA.com.