Top-seeded Gettysburg and third-seeded Haverford each secured semifinal victories to set up a rematch of the Centennial Conference Women's Basketball Championship from a year ago. The Bullets defeated fourth-seeded Ursinus 74-51 in the first semifinal while the Fords edged second-seeded Johns Hopkins 43-41 in the nightcap.
In last year's title game, Gettysburg downed Haverford 44-35 to claim its second conference crown. The Bullets will be making their third straight and fifth overall appearance in the finals. The Fords will compete in their third title game and are seeking their second title, with their lone championship occuring in 2014. Game time is set for 4 p.m. at Bream Gymnasium.
Ashley Gehrin, Gettysburg
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – A 20-point performance from junior Ashley Gehrin (Chester, N.J./West Morris Mendham) helped the Gettysburg College women's basketball team defeat Ursinus College 75-51 on Friday night inside Bream Gym to advance to the Centennial Conference Championship game.
Gettysburg (22-4) heads to the conference title game for the third consecutive season and fifth time overall. The Bullets face Haverford College (20-6), which knocked off the second seed Johns Hopkins University 43-41 in a tight game in Friday's second semifinal. For the second straight season, the Bullets and Fords will meet in the conference championship. The game is set to take place at 4 p.m. on Saturday inside Bream Gym.
Gehrin paced the Bullets with 20 points, a career-high five assists, four rebounds, and three steals. Her 20-point performance was her fifth of the season. Sophomore Meredith Brown (Landisburg, Pa./West Perry) posted 15 points, hitting 5-of-8 from the field, grabbed a team-high eight boards, tied a career-high three steals, and three assists. Freshman Tori Yantsos (Rockville, Md./Holy Child) came off the bench to net a career-high 11 points, four assists, and four rebounds.
The Bears were led by Aliyah Stephens who finished the night with 22 points, while Lydia Konstanzer accumulated 19 points and 14 rebounds.
With Gettysburg trailing 11-6 halfway through the first quarter, Yantsos hit a pair of free throws that kickstarted an 11-5 Bullets run to close the quarter. Junior Kiera Cesareo (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) scored six of the 11 points with her second three of the period coming in the last six seconds to lift the Orange and Blue 17-16 heading into the second quarter. The opening half consisted of four ties and four lead changes.
The Bullets pulled ahead 25-16 after fueling an 8-0 run, holding the Bears scoreless for the first five minutes into the second quarter. The Bears drained three shots from the foul line and hit a trey with under 1:05 left on the clock to come within five, but the Bullets held on to the 31-26 advantage at intermission. Gehrin was on fire in the quarter as she outscored Ursinus on her own, tallying 12 points to the Bears 10.
Back-to-back baskets from Brown engineered an 8-0 run to kick off the third quarter for the Bullets. The Bears then outscored Gettysburg 10-2 to cut the deficit down to five (41-36) with 3:52 remaining in the quarter. Freshman Seanna McNamara (Berwyn, Pa./The Episcopal Academy) netted five of the last nine points for the Bullets to increase the advantage 50-36 at the end of the third.
Gettysburg's offense continued to soar into the final quarter as they led by a game-high 23 points off of a lay-up by freshman Avery Bennett (Center Valley, Pa./Southern Lehigh) with 1:31 to go. The score never dropped below 12 points as the team shot a quarter-best 57.1 percent overall to seal the victory.
Gettysburg finished 26-of-58 (44.8 percent) from the floor, 19-of-24 (79.2 percent) from the charity stripe, and finished with a 43-34 advantage on the glass. Ursinus made 17-of-56 (30.4 percent) field goals and 15-of-27 (55.6 percent) from the free throw line.
Julianna Clark, Haverford
GETTYSBURG Pa. – In the Centennial Conference semifinals on Friday evening at Bream Gym, the Haverford College Women's Basketball team (20-6) defeated Johns Hopkins (22-4) by a 43-41 final, using one of the finest defensive efforts of the season to turn away the Blue Jays in the final minutes of the contest. The game featured 12 lead changes and nine ties.
Anna-Sophia Capizzi had 15 points, while adding a career-best six rebounds and four steals. Maddie Gallic also poured in seven points and added a career-best 10 rebounds in the victory. Julianna Clark's shot with 22 seconds to go proved to be the game-winner as Haverford's defense denied Johns Hopkins on its final possession despite three offensive rebounds. The Fords have now reached the 20-win plateau for the second straight season, the first time in program history Haverford has achieved that feat in back-to-back campaigns.
Johns Hopkins had a 15-12 lead at the end of the first quarter, but both teams struggled from the floor in the early goings, with Haverford held under 30 percent in the first quarter. Goldbach hit a corner three to cut the Johns Hopkins lead to just one at 18-17 early in the second quarter, but a 4-0 spurt for the Blue Jays restored a five-point advantage for Johns Hopkins, matching their largest lead of the contest.
Capizzi grabbed a steal and scored on the fastbreak to give Haverford a 24-23 lead with under 90 seconds remaining in the second. Ultimately, the Fords rattled off a 10-0 run in the final 6:18 of the half, outscoring the Blue Jays 15-7 in the second quarter and taking a 27-22 lead into the locker room. Capizzi had 13 points at the intermission. Megan Furch collected five rebounds in the opening 20 minutes.
Johns Hopkins began the second half on a 10-3 run, taking a 32-20 lead with 4:24 left in the period. Gallic converted a layup to tie the score at 32-32, and Furch hit a mid-range jumper to tie things again at 34-34 with 1:10 to go in the third. Macy Goldbach hit a trey with under a minute left to hand Haverford the three-point cushion heading into the final period at 37-34.
Strong interior defense for the Fords limited the opportunities that Johns Hopkins had in the post, as Haverford made the most of its pressure in the final quarter, holding Blue Jays' center Rory Cole off the scoresheet in key moments. Lillian Scott scored five straight points to hand Johns Hopkins a one-point lead at 38-37, but Furch poured in a jumper on the other end to restore the lead for Haverford at 39-38 lead with 6:01 to go.
Madison McGrath hit a three to give Johns Hopkins a 41-39 lead with 3:41 remaining, but Capizzi found the bucket for a layup to tie things at 41-41 with under two minutes left. Haverford found itself with possession in the final minute, the score tied. Clark grabbed the lead with an emphatic floating jumper, handing Haverford the 43-41 lead with 22 seconds to go.
Johns Hopkins called timeout, but their ensuing possession became a showcase for Haverford's defense, as Cole was forced into difficult shot attempts with the game on the line. Johns Hopkins was able to grab a series of offensive rebounds, but their salvos were well defended by the Fords, as Haverford prevailed in a tense affair to reverse a pair of regular season losses to the Blue Jays.
Lillian Scott added a game-best 19 points, while Diarra Oden also scored in double figures with 10. Rory Cole had a game-best 14 rebounds for the Blue Jays.
The Fords now advance to the Centennial Conference Championship game, where Gettysburg awaits for a second straight year. Gettysburg dispatched Ursinus in the first semifinal. The Fords and Bullets are set to do battle from Bream Gym at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Haverford will be looking for its second Centennial Conference championship, with the Fords looking to join the vaunted 2013-14 squad as conference champions.