GETTYSBURG, Pa. - In their first game of the new year, the Haverford College women's basketball team (9-3, 6-1 CC) grounded the host Gettysburg Bullets (5-5, 2-3 CC) in an overtime thriller, prevailing by a score of 57-54 Wednesday night inside the Bream Gymnasium.
Haverford survived the close game behind strong offensive efforts from Ally Landau, Kayla Robinson, Erin Albright, and Gia Flamini, as the quartet all scored in double digits in the win. The Fords' defensive efforts were led by Cortlyn Morris's program single-game record 11 blocks, matching the Centennial Conference record as she eclipsed 50 blocks in the season so far.
In a matchup where both teams rarely turn it over, the game reached a combined eight turnovers in the opening four minutes. The turnovers resulted in a somewhat slow start for both teams. The Fords looked to a few of their leaders including Ally Landau and Kayla Robinson to get things going, and that is exactly what happened. Landau delivered Haverford's opening basket while assisting Robinson's fast-break layup following a Gettysburg turnover.
Defensively, Cortlyn Morris locked down the paint early, registering two blocks in the first quarter, giving Gettysburg something to think about in their drives to the basket. With the score sitting at 6-6 and the Fords going nearly four minutes without a made basket, Landau knocked down a mid-range jumper to end the scoreless run.
Abby Ryan checked into the game for the first time with two minutes remaining and gave Haverford a four-point lead with a put-back layup. The final action of the quarter was a driving layup to beat the buzzer, giving the Fords a 12-6 lead heading into the second quarter. However, the story in the early minutes was turnovers. The Centennial Conference foes combined for a staggering 15 turnovers with each team scoring four points from those miscues.
Gettysburg's Emily Violante brought a more than six-minute scoring drought to an end in the first action of the second quarter. The Bullets quickly followed that up with two more baskets, forcing a timeout from the Fords as their lead was quickly diminished in the opening minute and change. The Fords retook the lead after an Erin Albright three-pointer but the Bullets' quick answer came from another Violante three.
The game remained back and forth for the remainder of the quarter and these evenly matched teams went into halftime tied at 23 after four lead changes. The turnover count now sat at a combined 24 with Haverford losing that battle 14-10. The Fords shot a tick under 40 percent in the half with Landau leading all scorers with eight points. Doing what she does best, Morris clogged the lane, registering six first-half blocks.
Gia Flamini opened the scoring for the Fords, knocking down a three to answer Gettysburg's opening basket in the third quarter. Robinson registered her second basket of the game shortly after pushing the Haverford lead to three. Albright continued her hot shooting, knocking down her second three-pointer of the game at 6:27, giving her ten points in the game. Still, the Fords couldn't keep the Bullets down. For every basket Haverford made, the hosts answered right back.
After locking down Gettysburg on the defensive end in back-to-back possessions, the Fords pushed the lead to five on the back of two Robinson layups. The third quarter ended with Haverford hanging onto a three-point lead and having the defense to thank. The visitors held Gettysburg to 33 percent shooting. After three quarters, it was Haverford's highest-scoring quarter of the game, as the Fords scored 15 points, shooting 40 percent from the field.
If the first three quarters were any indication of how the final quarter would go, the supporters of the tightly contested teams were in for an electric ending. Flamini, just as she did in the third quarter, knocked down a three to get Haverford on the board and push the lead to four. Robinson followed it up with a free-throw line jumper to increase their lead to six for the fourth time in the game. Mackenzie Szlosek answered with a layup for the Bullets to cut into the lead at the 7:12 mark.
After a few missed shots from both teams, Haverford took a timeout, seemingly to reset the teams' focus. They were six minutes away from righting last year's losses to the Bullets. However, the Fords turned the ball over following the timeout and Gettysburg's Shinya Lee capitalized, knocking down a mid-range jumper. The Fords' lead now sat at two points with the visitors leading 43-41 with under four minutes remaining in the game.
If there is one thing Haverford does best, it is lean heavily on the defense. The Fords kept the Bullets scoreless for over three minutes and Landau took advantage with a driving layup. It took Gettysburg getting to the line and knocking down a pair of free throws to end their scoring drought, staring down a two-point deficit with two minutes remaining. The Fords forced Gettysburg's 13th turnover of the game and Landau buried a jumper in the following possession. However, the Bullets stayed aggressive by getting to the free-throw line to cut the lead back down to two points.
Haverford called a timeout with 1:11 on the clock with eyes on knocking down a dagger to put the hosts away. Landau missed her three-point attempt but wasn't punished when Gettysburg's Lee missed a jumper of her own with 43 seconds left in the game. The Fords called a timeout and the contest looked like it would turn into a free-throw contest. If Haverford was going to travel back home with a win, it was going to happen at the free-throw line. With 27 seconds left, Flamini made one of her two attempts at the line and the Bullets immediately called a timeout.
With 17 seconds on the clock, Holsinger used a pump fake to get a clear look at a three and knocked it down to tie the game with nine seconds left. Haverford called timeout to draw up a play to try and win the game in regulation but Landau's drive to the basket resulted in an offensive foul, giving Gettysburg 1.5 seconds to get off a game-winner. Getting a good look from an out-of-bounds play, Lee's last-second layup hit everything but the bottom of the net as the game headed to overtime.
Picking up action at the 1:23 mark of overtime, Landau used a screen to get open for a floating layup to give the Fords a three-point lead. However, the Bullets answered with a long two to get within one at the 1:07 mark. Flamini went to the free throw line with the chance to push the lead back to three but she would only convert one. Gettysburg now had a chance to tie or take the lead with 28 seconds remaining in the overtime period. Gettysburg looked to get an open three-point attempt but Morris took flight and sent the ball into the stands with a late-game block, her 11th of the game.
Gettysburg missed their next attempt and sent Landau to the line. With the chance to put the game out of reach, Landau made the first and missed the second with 3.3 seconds remaining. The Bullets now had a chance to send the game to its second overtime but missed their three-point attempt to finally bring the game to a close.
The early "Game of the Season" candidate saw seven lead changes and thirteen ties. The Fords finished the game shooting 38.3 percent and knocked down four threes. Landau led a group of four double-digit scorers with 17 points while Flamini finished with ten and Albright finished with 12. Robinson registered 14 points and grabbed ten rebounds for her tenth double-double of the season and her fifth in a row.
Haverford snapped their two-game losing streak to Gettysburg dating back to last season, pushing their win streak to six games. The Fords will look to continue their winning streak during a trip to Baltimore to take on Johns Hopkins on Saturday, January 7. The game is scheduled to tip at 1 p.m.