Box Score SWARTHMORE, Pa. – Swarthmore College rallied from 10 points down in the final nine minutes and the host Garnet edged Gettysburg 69-66 in a Centennial Conference (CC) women's basketball tilt Saturday afternoon at Tarble Pavilion.
The Bullets (10-4, 5-4 CC) led 56-46 with 8:51 left, and they still held an eight-point advantage (60-52) with 6:17 on the clock. However, that's when Swarthmore climbed back into it with a 7-0 run before taking the lead for good when Maggie O'Neil hit a pair of free throws with 55 seconds to make it 64-63. The Garnet would ice the win by making 7-of-9 free throws inside the final 55 seconds, including four straight in the last six seconds.
Freshman
Emily Gibbons (Annapolis, Md./Severn School) led Gettysburg with her second career double-double, posting 11 points and 13 rebounds. Classmate
Annie Reilly (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) added 10 points, nine rebounds, and three blocked shots while senior
Jenna Swope (Warminster, Pa./Archbishop Wood) and junior
Jessica Porter (Narberth, Pa./Lower Merion) contributed 10 points apiece.
Ellie Larsen netted a game-high 24 points to go with eight rebounds for the Garnet (5-10, 2-7 CC) while Melanie Ackerman added 17 points.
Larsen accounted for four points during Swarthmore's late 7-0 run, including a pair of foul shots that pulled the Garnet to within 60-59 with 3:07 left. The two sides then traded 3-pointers, with junior
Kim Ryan (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) connecting for the Bullets and Jessica Jowdy answering for Swarthmore to make it 63-62 with 1:14 remaining.
A Gettysburg turnover led to O'Neil's go-ahead free throws. After missing their next shot, the Bullets were forced to foul, but Jowdy missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 12 seconds left and senior
Samantha Pagel (Harleysville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) corralled the rebound.
Jowdy answered with a big play at the other end, blocking a shot and gaining possession. She was fouled with 10 ticks showing and hit the first throw to make it 64-62. Jowdy missed the second, but Swarthmore controlled the rebound. The Bullets then fouled Melanie Ackerman, who made two at the line with six seconds left to make it 67-63.
Ryan nailed another triple with one second left, but Abbey Deckard set the final score with two more free throws and the Bullets were unable to get off a shot before the buzzer.
It was a tight game in the early going, with neither side leading by more than four for the nearly the entire first half. However, the Bullets used a 10-2 run late in the period to go up 32-25 with 2:16 left following a pair of free throws from Pagel. But the Garnet answered with six unanswered points and Gettysburg led just 34-31 at the half.
It was still a three-point game when Larsen converted a lay-up two minutes into the half. But Gibbons answered with a 3-pointer, and the Bullets maintained at least a five-point lead until Swarthmore's late run.
Gettysburg plays its third-straight road game when it visits Centennial Conference co-leader McDaniel College at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
