Box Score
WESTMINSTER, Md. – McDaniel College sent an early message by hitting its first four three-pointers before finishing with a season-high 12 treys as the Green Terror spoiled No. 24 Gettysburg College's hopes of hosting the Centennial Conference Tournament next weekend with an 82-70 decision inside the Gill Center Saturday afternoon.
Gettysburg (22-3, 17-3 CC) slips into a tie for first place in the conference standings with Muhlenberg College (20-4, 17-3 CC), which beat Ursinus College handily 80-46. The Mules hold the tiebreaker over the Bullets and will host the conference tournament slated for next Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 27-28. McDaniel (18-6, 16-4 CC) locked up the third seed and will face Gettysburg in the semis.
The Green Terror set the tone from the start as Sally Grace and Ali Moreland canned the first three shots from beyond the arc to give the hosts a 9-1 lead. Gettysburg pulled to 9-7 following back-to-back lay-ups by
Caitlin Moser, but Grace answered with another trey to push the advantage back to five (12-7) four minutes into the game.
The Bullets went down by 13 (26-13) later in the period, however, they managed to slice the lead to six (28-22) on a lay-up by sophomore
Julie McGrory just under the nine-minute mark. Moreland once again dialed in from deep to stop the run and McDaniel pushed the advantage to as many as 14 in the first half. A 5-0 run to end the half by Gettysburg pulled the score to 46-37 at the break.
The Green Terror made eight three-pointers in the first half and despite not hitting as many in the final period, the hosts were equally efficient and built their lead to 18 (59-41) at 14:14. The Bullets never went away, whittling the lead down to nine (69-60) after a three-pointer by McGrory at 4:45.
Instead of hitting long-range bombs, McDaniel capitalized on its free throw shooting as the hosts hit 10-of-12 shots from the stripe in the second half. Grace provided a dagger down the stretch with her fifth and final three-pointer with about three minutes left to push the lead to 76-62.
The hosts finished 12-for-20 (60 percent) from beyond the arc and 27-of-55 (49.1 percent) overall from the field. McDaniel also won the battle of the boards 39-36, though Gettysburg did force the Terror into 20 turnovers.
Moser finished with her 13th career double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds. McGrory posted 15 points, while senior
Courtney Fields and sophomore
Lauren Dadigan tallied 12 and 10 points, respectively, in addition to grabbing seven rebounds apiece.
Moreland recorded a well-rounded stat line for McDaniel with 20 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and four steals. Katelyn Fisher put up 19 points and dished out five helpers and Grace capped the day with 15 points, all from beyond the arc.
Gettysburg and McDaniel will meet in the semis of the CC Tournament next Saturday, while host Muhlenberg will face the winner of Wednesday's first-round game between Johns Hopkins University (15-9, 13-7 CC) and Dickinson College (16-8, 12-8 CC). Game times will be announced on Monday, Feb. 22.
