O'Donnell Scores 21 Points To Lead WC

SWARTHMORE, PA – Kathryn Stockbower scored a game-best 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds to tie for the game-high as host Swarthmore topped visiting Washington College, 80-73, on Wednesday evening at Tarble Pavilion in Centennial Conference women's basketball action.  The Garnet improve to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in conference play, while the Shorewomen drop to 3-5 and 1-3 respectively.

Washington scored the first eight points of the game to lead 8-0 with 15:27 to go on a jumper by freshman guard Kelly Mitchell (Laurel, MD/Academy of the Holy Cross).  Swarthmore scored the next five points to cut the lead to 8-5 with 13:40 left in the first half on a Ceylan Bodurthree-pointer.  The Shorewomen countered with five points of their own to re-establish an eight-point lead at 13-5 with 12:28 to go and led to a timeout by the Garnet.  Swarthmore scored the next eight points to even the game at 13-13 on a Stockbower jumper in the paint with 10:54 remaining in the half.  Six of the eight points during the run were courtesy of second chance opportunities.  WC would score nine of the next points to grab a 22-16 lead with 7:35 left in the opening 20 minutes on a trifecta by junior guard/forward Sally O'Donnell (Cape May Court House, NJ/Wildwood Catholic).  The hosts would take their first lead of the night at 27-24 with 5:29 left on Bodur's third three-pointer of the half and pushed the lead to 29-24 on a Stockbower jumper in the paint to close out a 13-2 run.  WC scored the next five points to level the score at 29-29 with 4:06 left in the half on a Kile bucket in the paint.  Freshman forward Erin Fitzgerald(Greensboro, NC/Bishop McGuiness) put the Shorewomen up 31-30 on a layup with 3:23 to go, but the Garnet scored seven of the final 11 points to take a 37-35 lead into halftime.  Bodur put the hosts up with 1:22 left on a jumper in the paint for the final points of the half. 

In the first half, six of Swarthmore's 12 field goal makes were from three-point range.  The Garnet shot 6-for-10 from behind the arc and 6-for-26 from two-point land in the first 20 minutes.

Mitchell put WC up 38-37 in the opening minute of the second half on a triple by Mitchell and junior guard Meghan Tait (Oxford, PA/Oxford Area) scored on a layup to make it 40-37 with 18:29 remaining in the game.  Swarthmore scored nine of the next 11 points to take a 46-42 lead with 15:25 to go on a Nicole Rizzo layup.  Kile would even the score at 46-46 on a jumper in the paint with 14:19 to go.  Mitchell would give WC the lead back with a trifecta to give the visitors a 49-47 lead with 13:44 to go.  The Shorewomen led 54-52 before the Garnet went on a 7-0 run to take a 59-54 lead with 7:39 to go on a Stockbower fast-break lay-in.  Swarthmore took a 57-54 lead just 14 seconds earlier on a three-pointer by Rizzo.  WC trimmed the Swarthmore lead to 59-58 with 5:29 to go on a Tait lay-in after she grabbed an offensive rebound.  Swarthmore scored the next four points to push the lead back to five points at 63-58 with 3:23 to go on a layup by Stockbower.  A Ginny LaFauci layup with 2:03 left in the contest gave the Garnet their biggest lead of the contest at that point, 67-58.  The Garnet led by as many as 10 points in the final minutes on three occasions.  WC would get it as close as seven points, 76-70, with 32 ticks left following a Mitchell three-pointer, but would draw no closer as Swarthmore hung on for seven-point the win. 

Bodur added 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Genny Pezzola added 13 points for the Garnet.  Swarthmore shot 38% from the floor, 40% from three-point range and 73% from the free throw line. 

O'Donnell scored 21 points to lead the Shorewomen and was one of four WC players to score in double figures.  Mitchell netted a career-high 16 points off the bench. Kile had 14 points and tied Stockbower for tops in the game in boards with nine.  Tait had 13 points, seven assists, a game-high, and seven rebounds.  WC shot 39% from the floor, 41% from behind the arc and 77% from the charity stripe.

Both teams recorded 42 rebounds with Swarthmore grabbing 17 on the offensive end and Washington nabbing 13 off its own misses.  The Garnet outscored the Shorewomen in points off turnovers by a 23-9 score and turned it over just 13 times, while WC coughed it up 20 times.

Washington returns to action on Saturday afternoon with a 2:00 p.m. game versus visiting Catholic in a non-conference game at the Cain Athletic Center.