CHESTERTOWN, Md. – Senior Caitlin Moser (Wyomissing, Pa./Wyomissing) scored her 1,500th career point as the Gettysburg College women's basketball team wrapped up a playoff spot in the Centennial Conference Tournament with a 69-64 victory at Washington College on Saturday afternoon.
Gettysburg (18-5, 13-5 CC) is assured of at least the No. 3 seed in the five-team conference tournament slated to begin on Feb. 23. Only Johns Hopkins University (16-3, 19-4 CC) and Muhlenberg College (17-5, 13-4 CC), both of which cruised to victories on Saturday, remain in front of the Bullets.
Moser finished with a team-high 17 points and became the second player in program history with 1,500 with a jumper at 14:22 in the first half. With Moser leading the way, Gettysburg's top three scorers on the season each recorded double figures for the third game in a row as juniors Julie McGrory (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) and Sara Kinsley (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe) finished with 16 and 14 points, respectively.
Gettysburg never trailed in Saturday's contest, utilizing an 8-0 run to jump out to a 12-4 lead just over six minutes into the game. Washington (10-12, 8-9 CC) closed the gap to two later in the period, but the visitors tallied eight of the final nine points of the opening stanza to take a 33-24 lead into the locker room.
The Bullets carried the momentum into the final period by boosting the lead to a game-high 14 following a three-pointer by freshman Katie Earley (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Trinity) and a jumper by classmate Rianna Doane (Glen Mills, Pa./Bayard Rustin). The Shorewomen never let the game get away, however, maintaining the deficit and eventually whittling it down under double figures midway through the half.
With Gettysburg leading 51-41 with 9:20 to play, Washington poured in the next eight tallies with a jumper by Claire Mattox setting the score at 51-49 with just under five minutes left.
The Bullets answered with a free throw by McGrory and a conventional three-point play by Kinsley to regain a six-point advantage. The Shorewomen tried to cut the lead, but each time the hosts scored, the visitors answered with a quick bucket. Back-to-back buckets by Moser and a pair of free throws by Kinsley pushed the margin back to eight (65-57) with under a minute to play.
Gettysburg knocked down 22 free throws for the second consecutive game, going 22-for-30 for the game. The visitor's other primary advantages came on turnovers and bench production, as the team logged 26 points off 21 Washington miscues with the reserves posting 33 points. The Shorewomen won the rebounding battle 42-36 and scored 24 second-chance points.
Moser joined all-time leading scorer Jennifer Bengel '06 (1,701) as the school's only 1,500-point scorers as the senior currently has 1,511 for her career. Noteworthy, she tallied her 1,000th career point at Washington last season.
Kinsley and McGrory each added six rebounds, the former also blocking a pair of shots. Earley was perfect from the field with two threes and a pair of free throws for eight points, while Doane finished with seven tallies and a pair of steals.
Sally O'Donnell led Washington with 17 points on the strength of three three-pointers. Meghan Tait added 14 points and seven assists, while Erin Fitzgerald put up nine points and 12 rebounds.
Gettysburg begins the final week of the regular season with a trip north to Dickinson College (9-13, 7-11 CC) on Wednesday, Feb. 16, at 6 p.m.