Bears Top Swarthmore
COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. - Swarthmore junior center Karen Berk posted her third consecutive double-double as the Ursinus Bears defeated the Garnet 69-52 in the Centennial Conference opener for both teams on Tuesday night in Helffereich Hall.
The Bears (2-1 overall, 1-0 CC) raced out to a 12-1 lead following a triple from junior guard Sarah Hennessey at 16:12. Garnet freshman guard Amber Wantman made consecutive jumpers as Swarthmore fought back to make it a one-point game, 16-15, at 8:26 left in the first half. The Bears' Dana Alf and Mary Kate Daley made consecutive jumpers to push the Ursinus lead back to 20-15 at 6:33 but Swarthmore had the answer again. Garnet sophomore guard Melissa Grigsby found freshman Pamela Costello and then knocked down a jumper of her own to make the score 20-19.
Berk got a nice feed from classmate Kristen Traband with 1:16 left in the half to bring Swarthmore within a bucket, 27-25. Ursinus closed out the half strong, using four free throws from Molly Guntli to assume the 31-26 advantage at the break.
Ursinus opened up the second half much the same way it started the game, clipping off a 12-4 run in the first four minutes to grab a 41-29 lead. The Bears did not let Swarthmore get closer than nine points the rest of the night, shooting 53.6 % from the floor in the second half on their way to the second win of the season.
Berk and Wantman tied for the team-high with 14 points while senior Jess Fuhr dropped in nine points. Berk collected a game-high 11 rebounds as Swarthmore fell to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the Centennial.
The Bears were led by Hennessey with 18 points, including four for five from three-point land, while Daley added 17 points and Guntli chipped in 13 points and nine rebounds.
The Garnet return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 29, traveling to Baltimore, Md. facing Johns Hopkins at 7:00 p.m.