Bears Steal Victory From Garnet
COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. -- Swarthmore could not withstand the second-half pressure of the Ursinus Bears and dropped the Centennial Conference match-up on Saturday, 57-51. Karen Berk scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the year.
The win for Ursinus breaks a 16-game losing streak against Swarthmore.
In December, Swarthmore pulled off a 54-53 nail-biting victory over the Bears at Tarble Pavillion. On Saturday, the Garnet traveled to Helfferich Gym at Ursinus in hopes of sweeping the season series.
The game was a tug of war from the start. Swarthmore won the tip, and Berk hit a layup to open scoring for the Garnet. Ursinus's Sarah Hennessey answered with a three pointer to put the Bears ahead by one. Swarthmore charged down the floor, and Berk converted another layup to put the Garnet ahead, 4-3 two minutes into the game.
Swarthmore built a 9-5 lead in the first five minutes, but the Bears went on a 10-0 run in the middle of the half to take a 9-15 lead at 11:42.
The Garnet re-tied the game 17-17 with a three-point field goal from Debbie Farrelly at 9:19. In the first half alone, there were three ties and six lead changes between the teams. With 7:21 left in the half, Berk blocked an Ursinus layup attempt, cruised down the court and scored a bucket for at to push the Garnet ahead 21-19 Laura Popovics hit a three pointer to close the half and give Swarthmore a 28-24 lead.
Swarthmore defense shut down their opponent's offense as Ursinus connected on only eight of 32 attempts in the first 20 minutes. But the Bears kept the game close with hot shooting (7-of-9) from the free throw line.
Swarthmore was marred by turnovers in the half, committing 13 to Ursinus's nine.
At halftime, Farrelly led Swarthmore with eight points while teammate Jen Stevenson contributed seven points and two steals. Cara Tigue grabbed a team-high seven boards while Berk pulled down six rebounds to match her six points. Swarthmore outrebounded Ursinuss 27-21.
For Ursinus, Sarah Hennessey led the Bears with eight points and Molly Guntli earned six rebounds.
Swarthmore hung onto a single-digit lead for the first ten minutes of the second half. Bear's guard Mary Kate Daley made a layup at 14:58 to put Ursinus within two, 34-32, but Swarthmore's Melissa Grigsby '09 answered on the other end with a baseline jumper assisted by Berk. Down by four, 36-32, Ursinus called the first timeout of the game and began their push for the lead.
After an old-fashioned three-point play by Grigsby at 12:14, Swarthmore held a 44-35 advantage. Ursinus came down the floor and Hennessey hit a reserve layup for the Bears, the first two points of a 16-2 run by Ursinus. Hennessey scored ten points in four minutes as Ursinus made its charge.
Berk ended a six-minute scoring drought for the Garnet with a layup at 5:28 to cut Ursinus's lead to three, 49-46. Daley answered on the other end with a layup to keep the Garnet at bay. Farrelly got the Garnet within two, 51-49, with a trifecta, but the Garnet would get no closer. Ursinus went 4-of-6 from the charity stripe with two minutes left to halt Garnet hopes of a late comeback.
Ursinus shot 45.8% in the second half and went 7-10 from the line.
Tigue closed the game with boards, her fourth double-digit rebounding performance in the last five games. Berk reached double-digit scoring for the the 10th consecutive game, 14th time this season. Farrelly added 11 points, included three treys, for the Garnet.
Ursinus's Hennessey finished the contest with a game-high 20 points and 11 rebounds. Teammates Daley and Guntli added 14 points and 11 rebounds respectively. The Bears improve to 5-5 in conference play and 8-8 overall.
With the loss, the Garnet drop to 4-6 in Centennial Conference play and 7-8 overall. The team hopes to improve it's conference record when they host the Owls of Bryn Mawr on Tuesday, January 24th at 7:00 p.m.