DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – An 18-3 run to start the second half helped lift the Gettysburg College women's basketball team to a 55-42 victory over Benedictine (Ill.) University at the Daytona Beach Shootout inside the Ocean Center Friday morning.
Gettysburg (6-2) held Benedictine (4-6) to just 28.3 percent shooting from the field, including just 5-of-21 (23.8 percent) in the second half. The Bullets broke a 25-all tie at the half by netting 18 of the first 21 points of the final period and taking a 43-28 lead with just under nine minutes remaining.
Senior Caroline Murphy (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) hit double-figures for the seventh time this season with a game-high 16 points. She finished 5-of-10 from the floor and hit all five of her attempts from the charity stripe. Senior Rianna Doane (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) added a dozen points and four steals, while sophomore Emily Duggan (Marmora, N.J./Ocean City) added eight points and six rebounds.
Vincenza Ranallo led the Eagles with 11 points, while Meghan Novak contributed 10 points.
Benedictine jumped out with a 7-2 spurt to start the game, but Gettysburg rebounded with a six-point run to take its first lead of the contest. The Eagles quickly regained the advantage and held it until the final minute of the half when an old-fashioned three-point play by freshman Sara Graham (Pottstown, Pa./The Hill School) gave the Bullets a 23-22 lead with 1:22 to go before the break.
After Benedictine took its final lead of the contest, Doane canned a pair of free throws with 21 seconds left to send the teams into the break tied at 25.
The two teams traded buckets to start the final period before Gettysburg mounted an 11-0 run. A jumper by Duggan made it 38-27 with 12:26 to play. The sophomore forward would later find senior Alyssa Isler (New Hope, Pa./New Hope-Solebury) for a three-pointer to push the Bullets ahead 43-28 with 8:46 left in the game.
Gettysburg's lead would dip to eight before a final 9-0 run gave the Bullets a game-high 17-point lead (52-35) with just over three minutes to play.
Isler tallied seven points for Gettysburg, while Graham and senior Cori Younghans (Succasunna, N.J./Roxbury) each finished with five points. Graham also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, including four on the offensive glass.
Gettysburg faces the University of Scranton in Daytona on Saturday, Dec. 21, at noon.