HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College women's basketball team (10-4, 7-2 CC) defended home court against a feisty McDaniel (6-6, 4-3 CC) program, taking down the Green Terror by a score of 49-40 on Tuesday night inside Gooding '84 Arena.
Ally Landau led all scorers with 15 points while Kayla Robinson collected her NCAA-leading 12th double-double of the season, putting up 11 points and 14 rebounds. Cortlyn Morris was the final double-digit scorer for the Fords, scoring ten points while adding six rebounds on the evening.
In a tightly contested first quarter, McDaniel held an 11-10 lead going into the second quarter. Elaina Beckett got things going for McDaniel, scoring the Green Terror's first five points. For Haverford, Landau also did most of the heavy lifting offensively as she scored the opening five points. The Fords found themselves down 9-3 early, but worked their way back slowly to cut the lead to one behind a bucket from Morris and a pair of free throws from Eleanor Alix.
The Fords later took command of the game in the second quarter, outscoring McDaniel 12-8 in that frame. Morris started the quarter with the first three made baskets for Haverford. Scoring help later came from Abby Ryan, who connected on back-to-back buckets in the paint to make the lead 22-15 in favor of the Fords. McDaniel worked their way back into the game before things got out of hand with four points to close out the quarter, giving Haverford only a three-point lead at halftime.
The third quarter was much of the same. The game was close on the scoreboard but it felt like the Fords had things under control. Robinson used the quarter to get herself going, scoring eight of her 11 points in the stretch. Abby Ryan and Morris provided the other baskets while Landau sat with some foul trouble. Alix ran most of the offense and provided good looks for her teammates, finishing the game with four points and four rebounds. By the quarter's end, Haverford held a 36-31 lead, heading into the game's final quarter.
McDaniel whittled the lead down to just two points with 6:47 remaining in the game. However, Haverford pushed the lead back to seven shortly after thanks to a Landau layup and a three-pointer. With five minutes to go, Haverford needed to execute and finish the game off and they did exactly that. With composure, Robinson and Landau took over, getting key baskets in the most opportune moments. The lead never dropped below five from that point forward, with the Fords pushing the advantage to their largest lead of the game to earn a seventh conference win.
The Fords shot 35.7 percent from the field and dominated the turnover battle, forcing McDaniel into into 22 turnovers. Haverford scored 17 points off turnovers and out-rebounded the Green Terror 35-33. Abby Ryan did a little bit of everything, registering nine points, five rebounds, three steals, and two blocks in the win.
Haverford will now have a day's rest before getting back into action Thursday with their second match-up with Ursinus on January 12, this time on the road. Haverford won the first meeting inside Gooding Arena by a final of 65-55. The game is scheduled for tip-off at 6 p.m in Collegeville.