Berk Tops 1,000 Points, Red Devils Defeat Swarthmore
SWARTHMORE, Pa. - Garnet junior forward Karen Berk scored a team-high 20 points, including the 1,000th point of her career, yet visiting Dickinson used 44 points from forwards Ally Teatom and Piper Etess to defeat Swarthmore 79-58 in Centennial women's basketball action Saturday afternoon in Tarble Pavilion.
Berk, averaging a Centennial-leading 17.5 points per game, needed just nine points entering this afternoon's affair; she scored the milestone basket on a short jumper form the left block at the 11:33 mark in the first half. Berk becomes the sixth Swarthmore woman to score 1,000 points, joining Heather Kile '02 (Centennial-record 1,965 points), Michele Fowler '86 (1,738), Katie Robinson '04 (1,682), Liz Clarke '90 (1,300) and Jen Truscott '88 (1,095).
The first half of the game was a tight affair—Teatom rebound a miss by guard Carly Okontz and put it back for a 19-14 Dickinson lead with eleven minutes left in the half. The bucket sparked a 9-2 run as the Red Devils extended their lead to 26-16 after a triple by senior guard Jessica Howard at 7:23.
The Garnet made a surge of their own, getting six points from sophomore guard Melissa Grigsby on an 11-2 run that brought the home team within one, 28-27, at 3:12.
Dickinson (15-3, 10-2 CC) closed the half with five straight points to take a 33-27 lead into the intermission.
Berk led all scorers at half with 16 points while Teatom countered with 12 points for the Red Devils.
Dickinson grabbed control of the game after the break, using nine points from Teatom to build a 50-36 lead at the 13:03 mark. Teatom and Etess continued to control the play inside as the Red Devils lead grew as large as 26 points.
Teatom shot 13 of 19 from the floor on the way to a game-high 29 points to go along with nine rebounds. Etess was 9 of 10 from the free throw line for 15 points while Howard added seven points and three assists.
The Red Devils out-scored the Garnet 40-18 in the paint while holding a 39-22 edge in the rebound category.
Berk hit double figures for the 20th straight game but saw her double-double streak end at six consecutive. Grigsby had her best game to-date, shooting 7 of 13 for a career-high 17 points while having only two turnovers in 37 minutes against the best pressure defense team in the Centennial. Freshman forward Pamela Costello also had a strong game, tying her career-high with 16 points on 5 of 7 shooting (3 of 4 from three-point land).
The Swarthmore women (4-14, 1-12 CC)will host Johns Hopkins in another Centennial game on Tuesday, Jan. 30 at 7:00 p.m.