Swat Holds Off Furious Rally, Defeats Haverford 56-52
HAVERFORD, Pa. - Anything can happen in a rivalry game. Luckily, the Swarthmore College women's basketball team (7-8, 4-6) stepped up in the final seconds to prevent that "anything" from happening.
Down 16 points with just over eight minutes to play, Haverford (4-10, 2-8) rallied all the way back, cutting the Garnet lead down to just two points with :29 seconds remaining, but free throws from junior Kathryn Stockbower and sophomore Genny Pezzola and one fantastic defensive stand by Swat helped the Garnet hold off the furious Fords' rally to earn a wild 56-52 victory on Wednesday evening in Centennial Conference action.
Bodur led the Garnet with 15 points.
Junior Ceylan Bodur finished with a game-high 15 points, Pezzola finished with 12 points on three three-pointers and Stockbower recorded the 55th double-double of her career with 10 points and 15 rebounds for the Garnet, who hung in a pressure situation for the big rivalry win
The Garnet led the Fords 47-31 following a Bodur lay-up with 8:33 left in the second half and appeared to be cruising towards the win. But little by little, the Fords chipped away at the lead. A three-pointer by Haverford's Calla Miller cut the Garnet lead to single digits at 54-45 with 3:37 left, then four-straight Garnet turnovers over a two minute stretch led to four Fords lay-ups, with Miller's breakaway lay-up cutting the lead to 54-52 with just :46 seconds remaining.
On the ensuing possession, Bodur missed a lay-up in the lane with :29 seconds remaining, giving the Fords a chance at the tie. But the Garnet defense - which held the Fords to 34 percent shooting for the game - buckled down and forced a turnover from Haverford's Nina Voith to get the ball back with :13 seconds remaining. From there, Stockbower connected on one of two free throws to make it 55-52, but Pezzol pulled down a huge offense rebound off the miss to get to the line herself. Pezzola also hit one of two to make it 56-52 with :09 seconds left, and the Garnet would hang on for the 56-52 win.
Much of the credit for the Garnet win goes to the defense - which held the Fords to just 34 percent shooting and caused 15 turnovers - and a balanced scoring attack that saw eight different players score and three in double figures.
Thanks in part to Stockbower, the Garnet finished with a commanding 46-34 rebounding edge. The Fords' rally was severely hampered by poor free-throw shooting; Haverford connected on just 9-of-21 foul shots.
Senior captain Pam Costello finished with an excellent overall game for the Garnet - scoring seven points, dishing out five assists and pulling down seven rebounds.
Miller, Nina Voith and Victoria Sobocinski each scored 11 points to lead Haverford.
Up 29-20 at the half, the Garnet took the momentum from the end of the first half - which ended on a 12-4 Swat run - right into the second. Swarthmore opened the second half on an 20-5 run, thanks once again to a balanced scoring attack that saw five different Swat players score and an engulfing defense that made the Fords miss eight of its first 10 shots of the second half.
Swarthmore leads the all-time series with the Fords 43-14 and have now won five consecutive in the series.
The Garnet return home to face Centennial Conference power Gettysburg on Saturday from Tarble Pavilion. Action is slated to begin at 2:00 p.m.