Swarthmore Drops Tough One in Carlisle
CARLISLE, Pa. - Dickinson guard Brooke Muller sank five three-pointers to lead the Lady Devils to a 57-41 home win against visiting Swarthmore Saturday afternoon. The Garnet were led by junior Karen Berk's 13 points in the first game of the second semester for both squads.
Swarthmore jumped out to an 8-3 lead at 13:25 with successful jump shots by guards Lisa Schumacher '10 and Melissa Grigsby '09. Dickinson (8-2 overall, 4-1 CC) tied the game up at 8-8 as guard Carly Onkotz sank a three-pointer and forward Laura Houseal finished off her third try in the paint.
Houseal found pay-dirt again a minute later, but Garnet junior guard Laura Popovics rained in triple at 11:07 to put Swarthmore back in front, 11-10. It was the first shot attempt of the season for Popovics, who returned from a semester abroad and is currently eighth all-time with 56 career triples.
A pair of free throws by Berk increased the Swarthmore lead to 13-10 but the hometown Devils pushed out a 10-2 run to assume a five-point lead at 7:12. The Garnet would come back to tie the game at 22-22 on a Schumacher three-pointer with 4:44 and tightened up the defense in the later stages of the half. Grigsby clicked in a jumper with 36 seconds left to grab the momentum and send the Swarthmore women into the intermission ahead, 26-25.
The Garnet shot 50% (11 of 22) from the floor in the first half while holding a slight 18-16 edge on the boards. Dickinson was limited to just 31 % from the floor (10 of 32).
The game remained tight for the first eight minutes of the second half—Popovics hit another jumper at 12:41 to give the Garnet their final lead of the afternoon. The Red Devils found the shooting touch and clipped off a 20-3 run over the next eight minutes to assume a 53-37 lead at 4:19. Dickinson's notorious pressure defense forced 31 Swarthmore turnovers on the way to its eighth victory of the season.
Berk reached double figures in scoring for the 14th consecutive game and led Swarthmore (4-7 overall, 1-5 CC) with seven rebounds. Popovics hit two three-pointers for eight points while Grigsby added six points and two assists.
The Swarthmore women return to action at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 9 at McDaniel College in Westminster, Md. The Garnet return to Tarble Pavilion this coming Thursday, Jan. 11 vs. Gettysburg at 2:00 p.m.