LANCASTER, PA - Haverford College went on a 15-4 run midway through the first half to take a lead which they did not relinquish to pick up their first Centennial Conference win of the season in defeating Franklin & Marshall 70-49 in Centennial Conference women's basketball at the Mayser Center.
Trailing 6-2 with 15:58 left in the first half, the Fords (3-14, 1-9 Centennial Conference) began to rally as Bea Chang knocked down a three-pointer at the 15:23 mark. The Diplomats pushed the lead back to three points with free throws by forward Emily Weaver (Sr., Prince Frederick, MD/Calverton) and guard Sarah Meisenberg (Fr., Severna Park, MD/Severn School), but Kathleen Abels hit a three-pointer at 13:10 to start a 10-0 run. Brittany Lattisaw made a lay-up at 12:47, Abels connected on a lay-up and foul shot at 14:05 and Abby Scattergood swished a lay-up at 11:44 to go ahead 15-8.
The Diplomats (4-10, 2-6 Centennial Conference) trimmed the lead to five points at 15-10 on a jumper by guard Miriam Marcis (Fr., Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central) and 17-12 on a put back by forward Brittany Braxton (So., Pearl River, NY/Nanuet), but the Fords went on a 6-0 run to lead 23-12 with 6:33 left in the first half.
Franklin & Marshall sliced the margin to nine points at 23-14 with 6:27 left until halftime, but Haverford outscored Franklin & Marshall 15-9 over the final six minutes of the first half to carry a 38-23 lead into halftime.
Haverford built the lead out to 20 points to open the second half with an 8-0 run for a 46-26 lead as Fords locked down on defense and Franklin & Marshall was unable to cut the lead below 18 points the rest of the way.
For Haverford, Scattergood led the way with 15 points and 11 rebounds with three assists and four steals in 27 minutes, while Katie Crowley added 13 points and five assists and Chang dropped in 10 points with nine rebounds.
Point guard Dana Johns (Sr., York, PA/EasternYork) led the Diplomats with 11 points, four assists and four steals to surpass Carrie Bowen '93 (226) for fourth in steals at the College as she now has 229 in her career.
In addition, Weaver added nine points and eight rebounds, while Braxton chipped in five points and 16 rebounds. Guard Christy Strunk (Sr., Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny) and Meisenberg both added eight points for the Diplomats as the Diplomats shot 21.6% (16-of-74) from the field, 16.7% (four-of-24) from beyond the arc and 68.4% (13-of-19) at the free throw line.
The loss marks the second in 16 meetings between Franklin & Marshall as the Diplomats fall to 14-2 all-time against the Fords. The last time Haverford defeated F&M was on November 24, 1998 as the Fords knocked off the Diplomats 49-46 on the Main Line.
Franklin & Marshall will continue the season on January 24 at McDaniel College. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.
