Brittany Davis, McDaniel
CHESTERTOWN, Md. – McDaniel built a nine-point lead in the second half before holding off one last rally by Washington (Md.) and scoring the final six points for a 74-66 Centennial Conference (CC) women's basketball victory on Thursday.
Lindsey Nichols (Wilmington, Del./St. Mark's) matched her career high for the Green Terror (17-1, 11-1 CC), netting 29 points for the second time in three nights. Brittney Davis (Laurel, Md./St. Vincent Pallotti) added a season-best 15 points to go with eight assists.
Emily Hubley led the Shorewomen (5-13, 1-10 CC) with 17 points – one of three players in double figures for the hosts. Carley Kendall added 14 while Ali Grundy chipped in 13.
After Kendall hit a layup 12 seconds into the second half to give Washington a 36-35 edge, Nichols canned her career high-tying sixth 3-pointer with 18:20 on the clock to put her team back in front for good and start an 8-minute, 28-second stretch in which McDaniel outscored the hosts, 21-11.
Kelly Sugalski pulled up on the break to close the deficit to 49-47 with 11:20 to play before five straight points from Davis and a Steph Perez (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin East) layup accounted for a 7-0 burst.
Trailing 67-59 on a Lauren Ballenger (Silver Spring, Md./Good Counsel) with 3:37 to play, Hubley hit a layup at the other end and then canned two free throws with 1:25 showing to make it a 67-63 game.
One Davis free throw stretched the lead back to five before Hubley and Kendall combined to hit three of four free throws in a six-second span and close the deficit to two once again.
Alyssa March (Fallston, Md./Fallston) hit a jumper in the lane late in the shot clock to stretch the lead back to four with 33.3 seconds showing and Perez converted a wide-open layup off a Nichols steal at midcourt to seal the win.
Davis hit a pair of free throws in the final 10 seconds to account for the final margin.
Behind eight points from Nichols, the Green Terror raced out to a 10-3 lead in the game's first 3:33.
Free throws from Nichols and Perez stretched the lead to 15-7 with 11:16 remaining before Hubley hit a layup and Kendall converted a three-point play in the next minute and a half.
Two Hubley free throws made it a one-point game with 9:22 on the clock but Davis responded with a 3-pointer.
A Nichols trey made it a 24-19 game but Grundy responded with a triple of her own and Hinton converted a layup in transition to even the score with 6:24 on the clock.
Five straight points from Nichols pushed the lead back to five but Grundy once again answered with a trey and Hubley hit two free throws to knot the game once again.
Tied at 32-all, Katherine Moore but the hosts back in front before Nichols capped her 24-point first half with a 3-pointer for a one-point edge at the break.
March added 14 points while Perez contributed 11 but did not hit a 3-pointer for the first time in 39 games – a stretch that dated back to the Green Terror's trip to Washington last December.
McDaniel returns to action at home against Muhlenberg on Saturday. Game time is 1 p.m.