Espinosa Scores Team-Best 10 Points

GETTYSBURG, PA – Host Gettysburg got a game-best 20 points from Jessica Porter and 15 points from Caroline Murphy en route to a 58-40 victory over visiting Washington College at Bream Gym in Centennial Conference women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon.  The Bullets improve to 7-4 overall and 4-2 in the conference, while the Shorewomen fall to 6-6 and 4-3 respectively.

After the Shorewomen scored the opening basket of the game on a layup by freshman guard Ashley Espinosa (Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) 85 seconds into the game, the Bullets scored the next nine points to take a 9-2 lead with 16:04 left in the first half on a three-pointer by Porter.  Porter would sink another three to cap an 11-4 run and gave Gettysburg a 20-6 lead with 10:35 left in the first.  Washington would score seven unanswered points to trim the lead to 20-13 with 8:22 remaining in the half on a trifecta by sophomore guard Jackie O'Connell (Northampton, PA/Northampton Area), but the Bullets would close out the half by scoring nine of the final 13 points to take a 29-17 lead into halftime. 

In the second half, the Bullets led 39-26 with 13:18 to go in the contest on a Cori Younghans bucket when the Shorewomen scored the next five points to get the deficit back to single digits at eight points, at 39-31 with 10:54 to go on an Espinosa lay-in.  Washington would get it back to eight points on two other occasions, the last being on a pair of free throws by senior center Erin Kile (Benton, PA/Benton Area) with 4:33 remaining in the second half to cut the lead to 43-35, but could not draw any closer.  The Bullets closed the game out on a 16-4 run to provide the final margin.

Porter tied for tops in the game on the glass with seven rebounds to lead the hosts.  Jenna Swope handed out a game-high four assists and grabbed six rebounds.  Porter and Murphy each blocked a pair of shots to tie for contest-best.  Swope and Rianna Doane led the squad with three steals each.  The Bullets shot 33% from the floor (18-for-55), 33% from behind the arc (6-for-18) and 77% (17-for-22) from the charity stripe.

Espinosa led the Shorewomen with 10 points, seven rebounds and a game-high four steals.  Her seven boards tied Porter to most in the game.  The Shorewomen 27% (16-for-59) from the floor, 21% (3-for-14) from three-point land and 40% (4-for-10) from the foul line.  WC held a 48-36 advantage in rebounds, but turned it over 25 times to just 16 for Gettysburg.

The Shorewomen return home on Tuesday afternoon with a 3:00 p.m. tip-off against visiting Dickinson in Centennial Conference action in the Faculty & Staff Appreciation Game.