HAVERFORD, Pa. – Haverford College held off a late rally by visiting Gettysburg College to pull out a 64-56 victory in Centennial Conference women's basketball action Tuesday night.
In a game featuring two of the top defenses in the conference, Haverford (10-1, 6-1 CC) survived Gettysburg's (7-5, 3-4 CC) second-best shooting performance of the season by forcing 20 turnovers in the game. The Bullets canned 46.2 percent of their shots from the floor, but came up empty in the final 56 seconds of play as the hosts canned four free throws to seal the win.
Senior Caroline Murphy (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) led Gettysburg with 18 points and 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season. Junior Samantha Pagel (Harleysville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) topped her career high for the second consecutive game with 14 points.
Nina Voith paced Haverford with 22 points and four steals. Elizabeth Lynch also tallied four thefts to go with 16 points.
The hosts came into the game as the conference leader in field-goal percentage defense, but Gettysburg, which ranked second in field-goal percentage defense, connected on 50 percent (12-of-24) of its shots in the opening half. The Bullets held the largest lead in the first period at five (22-17) following a lay-up by Pagel at 7:40.
The Fords tallied the final two buckets before the break, including a jumper by Voith with 36 seconds left, to take a 27-26 advantage into the locker room.
Haverford continued to build momentum in the final stanza, eventually grabbing the first double-digit lead of the game on a three-pointer by Voith at the mid-point of the period.
The deficit stood at 12 with less than five minutes to play when Gettysburg mounted a run. The Bullets netted the next eight points with a jumper by Murphy slicing the deficit to just four (58-54) with 1:29 to play.
After a pair of free throws by Voith, Pagel converted the visitor's last field goal with 57 seconds remaining. Despite getting a missed free throw and forcing a turnover on Haverford's next two possessions, the Bullets were unable to bring the game closer with a pair of missed three-pointers on its next two possessions.
Haverford sealed the decision with four free throws inside the final 26 seconds.
Murphy finished 8-of-14 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. She narrowly missed a triple-double, tying a personal best with eight assists. Pagel finished 7-of-11 from the floor in setting her new career high for points. Senior Rianna Doane (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) tallied seven points, eight rebounds, and four steals. Doane is now tied for eighth in program history with 158 career steals.
Gettysburg returns home to face Ursinus College on Thursday, Jan. 16, at 7 p.m.