Balanced Scoring Gives Women's Basketball 73-65 Comeback Win at Washington College
CHESTERTOWN, Md. - For the second time in the young season, the Swarthmore College women's basketball team (4-4, 2-3) rallied from a 16-point first half deficit to earn a hard-fought road victory, defeating Washington College 73-65 on Wednesday evening in Centennial Conference action.
The Garnet completed the comeback thanks to a strong offensive effort, shooting a season-high 48 percent from the field with four different players scoring in double figures. Freshman Elle Larsen led the way, scoring a game-high 21 points. Junior Madeline Ross -- playing in just her second game of the season after studying abroad -- scored 19 points off the bench. Sophomore Kayla Moritzky scored 11 points while sophomore Katie Lytle added her sixth double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Sally O'Donnell scored 20 points while Megan Tait recorded a triple-double (13 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists) to lead the Shorewomen (2-4, 1-4), which led 31-15 with just 4:06 to play in the first half before Swat began its improbable comeback. Swarthmore's previous 16-point rally came in a season-opening 66-64 win at Widener.
Down 32-17 with three minutes to play in the first half, the Garnet offense finally found its rhythm, making six-consecutive field goals to spark a 12-0 run that cut the deficit to 32-29 with less than a minute to play. Tait drilled to a three-pointer to give the Shorewomen some breathing room with :30 seconds to play, but a Larsen jumper with :09 seconds to go made it a 35-31 game at the break.
In a back-and-forth second half, Swarthmore finally found itself on the right side of the scoreboard after a lay-up from Larsen gave the Garnet a 41-39 lead with 16:11 remaining in the game.
The game remained tightly contested over the next six minutes, with the lead changing hands twice to go along with three ties. Down 53-47 with 10:06 to play, Swarthmore began another decisive run that proved to be the difference in the game. Over the next four minutes, Swarthmore out-scored the Shorewomen 13-2 to take a 60-55 lead with 5:56 to play. Larsen scored six points during the run, while Ross hit a big three-pointer to help the Garnet re-take the lead.
Down the stretch, Swarthmore relied on its defense and clutch free-throw shooting to close out the win. The Garnet hit four of its six foul shots while holding the Shorewomen to just 1-of-7 shooting -- 1-of-6 from three -- over the final two minutes of the game to finish off the 73-65 win.
Ross finished the game shooting a prolific 8-of-12 from the field, including 3-of-6 from three. Senior Nicole Rizzo added seven points. Moritzky dished out a team-high six assists.
Led by Larsen and Lytle, Swarthmore dominated the paint, out-scoring Washington College 32-16.
Swarthmore closes out the first semester when it hosts Gettysburg on Friday at 7:00 p.m.
