Fast Start Leads Gettysburg Past Women's Basketball, 77-51

GETTYSBURG, Pa. - The Swarthmore College women's basketball team (8-10, 6-8 CC) fell behind early at Gettysburg (11-8, 9-5 CC) in a high-scoring first half and could never recover, falling to Bullets 77-51 on Saturday afternoon from Bream Gym.

Junior Madeline Ross led the Garnet with 15 points and sophomore Kayla Moritzkysank 10 for the Garnet and also finished with four assists. Freshman Elle Larsen led the team in rebounds with eight, followed by sophomore Katie Lytle, who pulled down seven.

The Swarthmore women kept the game close in the opening minutes of play in a high-scoring first half, only trailing by six after the first seven minutes. From there, however, Gettysburg junior Alyssa Oursler and senior Lauren Dadigan, who had game-high 19 and 16 points, respectively, took control of the game, giving the Bullets to a 31-18 advantage with eight minutes to play in the half.

Still, the Garnet continued to battle, cutting the deficit to 31-25 in the next two minutes. The Garnet's rally was short-lived, however, as costly turnovers shifted the rhythm back to a red-hot Gettysburg offense, which hit nine of its 11 shots in the final six minutes of the half. At the end of the half, the Garnet faced a 22-point deficit, 52-30.

To highlight just how potent the Bullets' offense was in the first half, the 52 points was just three points shy of its entire point total in a victory at Swarthmore on December 9, 2011 (55-52).

Moritzky scored the first points in the second half, draining a three-pointer for the Garnet, but Gettysburg once again gained control on offense, scoring 12 points in the following four minutes of play. The Garnet women stayed closer in the second half, but were again outscored, 25-21, for a final score of 77-51.

Overall, the difference in the game was Gettysburg's efficiency on the offensive end, shooting 45% compared to Swarthmore's chilly 26 percent while finishing with five fewer turnovers (13).

Swarthmore returns to Centennial action Wednesday, February 1, at Muhlenberg. Play is set to begin at 6:00 pm.