A Fresh Start for the Garnet
SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- The Swarthmore (1-0) and Middlebury (1-0) women's basketball teams picked up season-opening victories as they advance to the 10th annual Swarthmore Women's Basketball Tip-Off championship game. The Middlebury Panthers completed their first game with a 69-59 win while only trailing once (following the first basket of the game). In front of a 220-plus crowd, the Garnet had all five starters score double figures in an 87=47 win over Eastern at Tarble Pavilion on Saturday afternoon.
The Swarthmore Tip-Off Tournament will continue Sunday when Heidelberg and Eastern play in the consolation round at 2:00 pm, while Swarthmore and Middlebury face each other in the championship game with a 4:00 pm tip-off time.
In the opening game of the tournament, Middlebury went on 12-point scoring run to take an early lead—the Panthers led 34-27 at half. Middlebury sophomore Emily Johnson (Lower Gwynedd, Pa. / Mt. St. Joseph) controlled the Panther offense, scoring 19 points and dished out seven assists. Ashley Baron controlled the boards in the second half for Middlebury, posting six rebounds. She had 13 points, becoming one of four players to score in the double digits for the Panthers.
Heidelberg (0-1) senior Amanda Campbell (Pataskala, Ohio / Watkins Memorial) went 4-for-4 at the line and contributed almost half of the team’s points in the first half. Campbell was the top offensive threat for Heidleberg, scoring 16 points, before fouling out late in the second half.
Heidelberg junior guard Brittany Skolnocki (Lorain, Ohio / Clearview) made her presence known on the court, scoring 16 of her 18 points in the second half of the game while posting seven rebounds.
Swarthmore took an early lead in the second game of the day, forcing 15 Eastern turnovers (0-1) as the Garnet went on a 24-9 run in the first half. Sophomore captain Pam Castello (Havertown, Pa. / Haverford) made waves in the first half for the Garnet as she had 12 points and went 4-for-5 at the line.
Continuing their aggressive offensive game, the Garnet started the second half with a 30-15 lead. Ceylan Bodur ’11 (Istanbul, Turkey/ Robert College) made her debut in Garnet and White as she contributed 20 points to lead the Swarthmore offense. Senior captain Karen Berk (Havertown, Pa./ Haverford) added 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Lauren Popovics ’08 (Gorham, Maine/ Gorham) controlled the Garnet offense with six assists. Newcomer Kathryn Stockbower (Fort Washington, Pa. / Upper Dublin) scored 15 points and led the team in rebounds (12).
Just one rebound shy of a double-double was Eastern freshman Shanelle Timothy (Philadelphia, Pa./ West Catholic), who came off the bench to tally 11 points and nine rebounds. Also giving the Eagles 11 points was sophomore Joelle DeCarlo (Holland, Pa./ Plumstead Christian).
All starting staring players for the Garnet scored in the double-digits totaling a 67 of the 87 points. The last time the Garnet scored more than 80 points in a game was on February 24, 2004 when they beat Haverford 84-42 in the last game of season.
2007 Swarthmore Tip-Off Tournament
Saturday, November 17
Game 1: Middlebury 69, Heidelberg 59 BOX
Game 2: Swarthmore 87, Eastern 47 BOX
Sunday, November 18
Consolation: Heidelberg vs. Eastern at 2:00 pm
Championship: Swarthmore vs. Middlebury at 4:00 pm