Terror Lock Down Garnet
WESTMINSTER, Md. - Hometown McDaniel scored 41 points in the second half, and handed out 18 assists on the night, in a 66-37 win over Swarthmore in Centennial Conference women's basketball Tuesday night. Twelve different women scored for the Green Terror (9-2 overall, 3-1 CC), led by Danielle Fraider and Allison Biggs with nine points apiece.
Swarthmore junior center Karen Berk tallied her conference-leading ninth double-double with game highs in points (13) and rebounds (17).
The Garnet (4-8 overall, 1-6 CC) scored the first two baskets of the game, one each by Berk and freshman Lisa Schumacher. The Green Terror's Heather Thompson put in a lay-up to make it 4-2 Swarthmore at 16:38 and the two teams went another three minutes without scoring. A pair of free throws by Berk at 11:53 gave the Garnet a 9-6 edge.
A sloppy first half saw the teams combine for 27 turnovers and a 22.8 (13 for 57) shooting percentage. McDaniel took its first lead of the night at 9:49 on Jamie Morningstar's free throw but Garnet junior guard Laura Popovics drained a jumper in the paint to put Swarthmore back on top, 11-10, at the 9:03 mark. The Green Terror used a 15-4 run to finish the half with a 25-15 lead.
McDaniel's Courtney Gogolinski led all scorers at the intermission with seven points while Berk contributed six points for Swarthmore.
The Green Terror came out firing in the second half, banging out an 8-3 run to grab the 33-18 lead following a Biggs lay-up at 17:30. McDaniel continued to surge ahead, using strong free throw shooting to extend their lead to 47-27—the Green Terror shot 44.1% in the second half on their way to the ninth victory of the season.
It was just not Swarthmore's night on the offensive end as the team shot just 20% from the floor and 13.6 % (3 of 22) from beyond the arc.
Berk's 17 boards (nine offensive) tied for the second-most by a Garnet women's player this season—Berk grabbed 19 rebounds vs. St. Joseph's (Ct.) on December 1. The junior leads the Centennial with 12.0 rebounds per game and is in the top five with 16.1 points per game.
Popovics and Schumacher added eight points apiece while senior Jess Fuhr registered a game-high five blocks.
The Garnet return to Tarble Pavilion this coming Thursday, Jan. 11, taking on Centennial-rival Gettysburg at 2:00 p.m.