ROSEMONT, Pa. – Tonight marked the 61st game between Swarthmore and Rosemont in women's basketball, but the Ravens (3-4) earned a win in the first game between the two programs in almost 18 years. The Garnet (3-5) fought back late in the second half, but the Ravens held on for the 62-59 win.
In the low-scoring first quarter, Rosemont got out to a 7-4 lead with 6:52 left in the period. Neither team would score for the next 3:32 until a couple of free throws were converted by Swarthmore, followed by a Garnet jumper from Kemi Oladipo to give the Garnet their first lead of the game, 8-7 with 2:53 remaining in the first. Rosemont would out-score Swarthmore 7-1 to end the quarter with a 14-9 advantage.
Two Allaya Austin layups would extend the home side's lead to nine points, 18-9 with 8:36 on the clock and after the teams traded baskets at the 6:41 mark, neither team scored for the next 3:04, when Nadirah Anderson hit a jumper to give Rosemont their first double-digit lead of the game, 21-11 with 3:37 left in the half, which would end with Rosemont holding on to a 25-17 lead.
Swarthmore made early headway to start the half with a layup and a three-ball to get back to within three points with 9:02 left, but the Ravens steadied to score the next five straight points to reclaim their eight-point lead, 30-22 with 7:53 on the clock. A triple from Carly Hislop would put Rosemont ahead by 11 points, 38-27 with six minutes left in the third, but the Garnet would storm back again with an 8-0 rally to once again narrow the deficit to three points with five minutes remaining in the quarter, which would ultimately end with Rosemont ahead by nine points, 51-42.
An Austin layup with 5:54 left in the game would give the Ravens a 10-point cushion, 57-47, but the Garnet wouldn't go away, chipping back to within three points after a 7-0 run to make the score 64-54 with 4:41 on the clock. Free throws from Nadirah Anderson and a big three-pointer from Carly Hislop were what the Ravens needed, taking a six-point lead with 2:50 left. Only one score made it into the books in that last 2:50, when a Swarthmore bucket from downtown was scored by Abbey Deckard with 1:52 remaining to account for the final score.
Hislop played a great game, with a twin double-double (14 points and 14 rebounds). Alliya Austin scored 12 while Brianna Macauley added 11 and Nadirah Anderson chipped in with 10 points.
For Swarthmore, Maggie O'Neil was the high scorer with 17. Teammate Jessica Jowdy added 14 points and Abbey Deckard had 10 for the Garnet. Deckard also had 12 boards for a double-double.
The Ravens held Swarthmore to shoot only 12.1% from the field in the first half and 24.7% for the game.
Rosemont will play their next contest after Christmas when they travel to host Lycoming College on Monday, 12/28 at 5:00pm in the Hoops for Hounds Classic. The championship/consolation game will be played the following day at either 1pm or 3pm vs. either York or William Paterson.