WESTMINSTER, Md. – Junior Kiera Cesareo (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) hit five three-pointers on the way to a career-high 17 points and No. 19 Gettysburg College held off a late rally to beat McDaniel College 62-58 in Centennial Conference women's basketball action inside the Gill Center Wednesday night.
 
Gettysburg (7-1, 5-0 CC) led 57-44 with 4:06 to play at McDaniel (6-3, 2-3 CC). The Green Terror rallied to pull within a bucket twice inside the final 40 seconds, but the Bullets held on to pick up their 20th-straight victory over a Centennial foe.
 
Cesareo bested her previous personal high by one point to lead the Orange and Blue. All of her field goals came from beyond the arc and she finished 5-of-6. Junior Ashley Gehrin (Chester, N.J./West Morris Mendham) scored 11 of her 13 points in the second half, adding five rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Freshman Seanna McNamara (Berwyn, Pa./The Episcopal Academy) posted eight points and eight rebounds.
 
Conference scoring leader Emma Dorshimer (Jenkintown, Pa./Jenkintown) was held in check by McDaniel's defense as the senior finished just 2-of-9 from the floor. Dorshimer salvaged the night by hitting all six of her free throws and finishing with 10 points.
 
Caroline Ward led the Green Terror with 19 points. Anna Mondoro picked up 18 points and Liv Storer posted six points and eight rebounds.
 
McDaniel led throughout the opening quarter following an opening three-pointer by Mondoro. Gettysburg pulled to a tie three times, including on a jumper by Dorshimer to set the score at 14-14 after the first 10 minutes.
 
The Bullets seized the upper-hand in the second quarter with an 11-4 run over the first six minutes. A turnover by the hosts led to a lay-up by freshman Carly Rice (Pennington, N.J./The Pennington School) to put the lead at seven (25-18) with 3:57 to go in the half. The margin remained the same at the break with Gettysburg leading 31-24.
 
The lead hovered just below double-figures for most of the third quarter. Gehrin led the Bullets with six points coming on drives to the bucket and a lay-up by McNamara made it 48-39 at the end of the period.
 
Gettysburg appeared to be in firm control after a pair of free throws by Dorshimer made it an 11-point advantage at the start of the fourth quarter and the margin grew to 13 (57-44) on a fast-break lay-up by McNamara with just over four minutes to go.
 
A timeout turned things around for McDaniel as the hosts chipped away at the lead with lay-ups by Ward and Mondoro sparking a 12-2 run. A three-pointer by Mondoro made it 59-56 with 40 seconds left. Cesareo answered with a pair of free throws to put Gettysburg back up by five, but Ward answered with her own pair of free throws after corralling an offensive board with 18 seconds left.
 
Following a pair of timeouts to advance the ball to half-court and evaluate the defensive set, freshman Christina Richson (Summit, N.J./Summit) polished off the win by hitting 1-of-2 attempts from the line with 10 seconds remaining. A final three-point attempt by Mondoro was off the mark and Rice tracked down the loose ball and dribbled out the clock.
 
Gettysburg and McDaniel each finished 21-of-53 (39.6 percent) from the field. The Bullets finished with a 40-30 advantage in rebounds and a 33-11 edge in bench points.
 
Gettysburg returns to action at the D3hoops.com Classic in Las Vegas on Dec. 28-29. The Bullets open against Buena Vista University on Dec. 28 at 10 a.m. before facing Carthage College the following day at 2 p.m.