Tait Scores 13 Points to Lead Shorewomen

SWARTHMORE, PA – Host Swarthmore College got a double-double of 13 points and a game-best 19 rebounds from Kathryn Stockbower as the Garnet topped visiting Washington College, 65-59, on Friday night at Tarble Pavilion in Centennial Conference women's basketball action. The Garnet improve to 10-12 overall and 7-10 in the conference, while the Shorewomen are now 9-13 and 7-10 respectively.

Swarthmore jumped out to an early 6-2 lead just 3:03 into the game before Washington countered with an 11-0 run to take a 13-6 lead with 13:22 left in the first half on a three-pointer by sophomore guard/forward Sally O'Donnell (Cape May Court House, NJ/Wildwood Catholic) and forced the Garnet to call a timeout. During the run, WC drained three triples and got a layup by senior forward Julie Sherwood (Fairfield, CT/Fairfield Warde). Sherwood's layup gave WC its first lead of the game at 7-6 with 14:48 to go in the opening stanza. After the Garnet cut the lead to 13-10 with 11:49 left in the first on a transition lay-in by Madeline Ross, the Shorewomen scored six of the next eight points to regain the seven-point lead at 19-12 with 9:18 left in the frame on a layup by freshman center Erin Kile (Benton, PA/Benton).

The Garnet would answer with a 14-2 run to regain the lead at 26-21 with 3:30 left in the first. Ross would tie game at 19-19 with 6:26 left in the half on her second fast-break lay-in of the game and 44 seconds later Ceylan Bodur gave Swarthmore its first lead in over nine minutes on a bucket in the paint to put the hosts up 21-19, capping a spurt of nine straight points. After a hoop by Washington that tied it at 21-21, the Garnet scored the next five points to close out the run that was capped on a trifecta by by Eliza Polli with 3:30 to go in the half. Washington netted six of the final eight points of the first half to trim the Swarthmore lead to 29-27 at intermission.

In the second half, Swarthmore took its biggest lead of the game at that point at 42-36 with a three-point make by Lisa Schumacher with 12:53 to go in the game. Sherwood would net a hoop with 9:58 left to cut the hosts' lead to 42-41, but the Garnet countered with run of six unanswered points points to take a 48-41 lead with 8:10 to go on a fastbreak jumper by Ross, her fourth transition make of the contest. Ross ignited the run by scoring a transition layup after she stole the ball. The Shorewomen cut it to 51-49 with 6:01 to go in the second on a old-fashioned three-point play by freshman guard Maggie King (Kensington, MD/Bethesda-Chevy Chase). Polli would extend the Garnet back to seven at 56-49 with 4:17 to go on a three and the hosts would take their largest lead of the night at 59-51 with 3:33 left when Genny Pezzola splashed a triple. Sally O'Donnell would can three free throws with 50 ticks left to cut the Swarthmore lead to 61-57. The Shorewomen trimmed the deficit to two points at 61-59 on a fast-break lay-up by sophomore guard Meghan Tait (Oxford, PA/Oxford Area) with 24 seconds left. Swarthmore pushed the lead back up to four at 63-59 on two free throws by Pamela Costello. Following a WC miss on a three, Stockbower grabbed the rebound and was fouled. She canned two from the charity stripe with six seconds left in the game to provide the final margin.

Polli and Ross each scored 14 points to lead all players in the win for Swarthmore. Bodur added 10 points to give the hosts four double-digit scorers in the game. In addition to her double-double, Stockbower handed out a team-best five assists. Swarthmore outscored Washington in bench points by a 34-9 margin, enjoyed a commanding 48-31 edge on the boards and had a 10-2 edge in transition points.

Tait led the Shorewomen with 13 points in the game, while Sally O'Donnell added 11. Both Tait and O'Donnell passed out six helpers for tops in the contest. Sherwood chipped in with 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting, while Jamrogowicz grabbed seven rebounds to lead the squad. Washington outscored Swarthmore in points off turnovers by an 18-13 span and netted 11 second chance points to just six for the hosts.

Swarthmore shot 41% from the floor, while holding Washington to 36%. The hosts shot 33% from behind the arc, while forcing the guests to shoot just 28%. The Garnet were 8-for-13 from the line, while the Shorewomen were 6-for-7.

The Shorewomen travel to Dickinson tomorrow afternoon for a 2:00 p.m. road game.