Stockbower Leads Swarthmore Past Catholic 65-57 To Claim Championship
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Junior Kathryn Stockbower scored 23 points and pulled down a season-high 20 rebounds as the Swarthmore College women's basketball team (4-6, 1-4) defeated host Catholic 65-57 to claim first place in the Catholic University/Fairfield Inn Women's Basketball Classic on Monday afternoon.
Stockbower pulled down a season-high 20 rebounds to earn MVP honors.
Stockbower, who finished the tournament with 49 points and 27 rebounds, was named MVP of the Classic.
Sophomore Genny Pezzola scored 11 points - including a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line, while junior Ceylan Bodur - who was named to the all-tournament team - added eight points and eight rebounds. The Swarthmore bench played a crucial role in the victory, out-scoring Catholic 24-6 for the game.
Along with Stockbower's performance, the Swat defense came up huge in the title game, holding the Cardinals (8-3) to a dismal 26 percent shooting from the floor - just one game after holding York (N.Y.) to 23 percent.
The teams played even basketball for the first 10 minutes of play, until Swat took control of the game thanks to a 12-2 run - sparked by three-pointers from senior captain Pam Costello and senior Lisa Schumacher and great defense - over a three-minute span to build a 22-12 lead with 7:12 remaining in the first half.
From there, the Garnet would extend the lead to as large as 13 points before heading into the half with a 33-23 lead.
In the second half, the Garnet quickly advanced the lead to 14 at 38-24, but a lightning- quick 12-0 rally from homestanding CUA brought the Cardinals back into the game at 38-36 with 12:07 remaining in the game.
But the Garnet - who have struggled in the second half all season - would not waver even with all the momentum behind the home squad. With Swat leading 40-38 with 11:17 remaining, the Garnet ripped off 15-0 run - holding Catholic scoreless for nearly six minutes - to seize control of the game.
Thanks in part to clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch - Swat finished an impressive 20-of-24 for the game - the Garnet held on for the 65-57 win to capture the championship.
The Garnet finished with a 48-41 rebounding edge and 26-22 advantage in points-in-the-paint.
Catholic's Brianna Peterson scored 21 points to lead the Cardinals, earning all-tournament honors.
The streaking Garnet will look to keep up its winning ways when it faces a challenging trip to unbeaten Gettysburg (10-0) on Wednesday. Action is slated to begin at 6:00 p.m.