BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The Haverford College women's basketball team (1-0) opened up the 2022-23 campaign in resounding fashion, taking down Union (1-1) by a final score of 60-35 at NYU's Tip-Off Tournament in Brooklyn. After an evenly-matched first half, the Fords held a 37-15 edge over the final 20 minutes to pull away from the Dutchwomen, securing Grace Elliott's first win at the helm of the program.
Kayla Robinson recorded a double-double, falling two steals shy of a triple-double as she recorded an extremely impressive stat line of 12 points, 13 rebounds, eight steals, and four assists, doing it all for Haverford in the first game of her senior season. Robinson's eight steals were the most for a Ford since the 1999 season as she made her mark on the early-season Centennial Conference leaderboards.
Ally Landau poured in a game-best 17 points, connecting on a trio of three-pointers. Cortlyn Morris was again a force in the post, with 10 points, seven rebounds and a pair of blocks to open her senior campaign in earnest.
Haverford could not shake Union early, as the two teams traded buckets and brief runs in the first quarter. The Fords ultimately went to the benches after the first quarter holding a 10-8 lead, as the swarming defensive pressure of the nation's top defense a season ago seemed to be holding strong yet again, limiting Union into poor shot selection and causing seven turnovers through the first 10 minutes.
In the second, Landau started to get hot from the perimeter as the rhythm began to swing towards Haverford. Eleanor Alix poured in a layup to put the Fords up three at 17-14 with just under five minutes to go and Landau's triple with 2:07 showing on the first half clock put Haverford up 20-16. A 4-0 Union spurt tied things in the waning seconds, but Landau again connected to send the Fords up by three going into the intermission.
A 10-2 run early in the third quarter gave Haverford some much-needed breathing room, as the Fords found themselves up double-digits following a Landau jumper with 3:58 left in the third. On the other end, the defense again kept Union from establishing any kind of reliable results in the paint.
Haverford later rattled off a sustained 24-2 run to wrestle control of the contest for good. The stretch included a 20-0 run to open up the fourth quarter as the Fords went from clinging to a lead and hoping for some offensive momentum to fall into place to suddenly finding themselves in total command of the contest. Alix and Flamini each connected from three-point land in that electric stretch, with Robinson fighting for layup after layup down low.
With the big lead in hand with under four minutes to play, Haverford was able to work in some reserves as Zoe Carlson, Caroline Haynes, Annabel Flint, Abigail Clark, and Michela Jones entered the game for some valuable early season minutes.
Union turned the ball over 27 times, leading to 25 Haverford points, in a key stat from Saturday's action as the rebound battle was largely even. Haverford converted on six three-pointers, holding Union without a triple.
The matchup was the first in program history between Union and Haverford.The Fords will now wrap up NYU Tip-Off Classic action on Sunday at 3 p.m, taking on tournament host and No. 3 NYU at the Brooklyn Athletic Facility. The 1 p.m. game preceding will feature Alvernia and Union.