Fitzgerald Tallies Double-Double With 10 Points and Game-Best 12 Rebounds

WESTMINSTER, MD – Host McDaniel College raced out to a 45-29 halftime lead and held off a furious Washington College to hold on for a 59-56 victory on Tuesday night at the Gill Center in Centennial Conference women's basketball action.  It was the conference opener for both sides.  The Green Terror improves to 3-1 overall, while the Shorewomen drop to 1-1.

McDaniel took its biggest lead of the game just eight seconds into the second half at 47-29 on a jumper by Steph Perez and led 49-33 with 16:58 to go in the contest before WC went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 49-42 with 12:40 to go on a layup by freshman forward/center Latisha Pledger (Chesapeake, VA/Indian River) on a feed from sophomore guard Katie Bay (Downingtown, PA/Downingtown West).  The Green Terror scored the next four points to push the lead up to 53-42 with 11:09 remaining in the game on a Perez lay-in.  The Shorewomen countered with a 14-4 run to cut the lead to 57-56 with 3:50 to go.  WC scored the first seven points of the run to cut the Green Terror lead to 53-49 with 8:44 left on a Pledger layup.  WC cut it to two points at 56-54 on a pair of Pledger free throws with 5:10 remaining.  Pledger scored on a layup with 3:50 left to cap the run and the Green Terror's lead that had once stood at 18 down to a single point. 

Rachael Rybak of McDaniel would respond with a jumper with 3:35 left to make it 59-56 and provided the final margin.  Neither team could score the rest of the way.  senior guard/forward Sally O'Donnell (Cape May Court House, NJ/Wildwood Catholic) had a chance on the last shot of the game to send it to overtime, but her shot was off the mark and the Green Terror held on for the victory.

In the first half, After the Shorewomen scored the first point of the game on a free throw by sophomore forward Erin Fitzgerald (Greensboro, NC/Bishop McGuiness), the Green Terror answered with 12 straight points to grab a 12-1 lead with 16:18 to go in the first half on a jumper by Emma Wingerd.   McDaniel would extend the lead to 25-11 on a layup by Nikki Piper with 8:30 left in the first.

Washington would cut the deficit to 32-27 with 2:22 left in the opening half when O'Donnell drained a three-pointer.  However, McDaniel would counter with a 13-2 run to end the first half and took a 45-29 lead into halftime that capped on a Meg Biggart three-pointer from near half-court to beat the buzzer that banked in off the backboard.

For McDaniel, Perez scored 18 points to lead all players, while Rybak added 14 points.  Wingerd grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds.  The Green Terror shot 54% in the first half and 16% in the second half for 34% in the game.  McDaniel shot 50% (7-for-14) from three-point range, including a perfect 6-for-6 in the first half.  The Green Terror shot 71% from the charity stripe.

For Washington, O'Donnell had a team-high 11 points, while Bay and Fitzgerald added 10 points.  Fitzgerald corralled a game-best 12 rebounds for her second career double-double.  Tait passed out a game-best nine assists, while O'Donnell added five helpers.  O'Donnell and Fitzgerald each blocked two shots.  Washington shot 34% in the game, 25% from three-point range and 55% at the foul line.

Washington out-rebounded McDaniel, 44-42, and had a 28-14 edge in points in the paint, 10 on points off turnovers, 10-9 in second chance points and 16-10 in bench points.  The Green Terror committed only 12 turnovers, while the Shorewomen had 14 miscues.

The Shorewomen return to action one week from tonight with their home opener at 7:00 p.m. versus Johns Hopkins in Centennial Conference play.