THE FACTS
Gettysburg (16-6, 13-4 CC) 70, Haverford (14-9 11-7 CC) 53
What: Centennial Conference women's basketball game
When: Saturday, February 11
Where: Haverford, Pa.
THE SKINNY STORY
Gettysburg and Haverford remained within five going into the break, but the Bullets streaked away in the second half and never looked back, avenging their overtime loss to the Fords from earlier in the season and clinching a playoff home game.
THE LEADERS
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Alayna Arnolie (Vienna, Va./James Madison) led the Bullets with 20 points, just one short of tying a career-high. She also grabbed three rebounds.
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Mackenzie Szlosek (Holtsville, N.Y./Sachem East) tallied 12 points and eight rebounds, along with dishing three assists.
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Emily Violante (Easton, Pa./Easton Area) rounded out the Bullets in double digits, with 11 points and eight rebounds.
FOR THE FOES
• Ally Landau led the Fords with 17 points and five assists.
THE REST OF THE STORY
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Caitlyn Priore (Holland, Pa./Germantown Academy) kicked off the scoring for Gettysburg in the first two minutes of play, and buckets by
Mackenzie Szlosek and
Alayna Arnolie gave the Bullets an 8-5 lead early in the quarter. A layup by Kayla Robinson brought the Fords within one, and Robinson followed up with a pair at the line to give the Fords a one-point lead. Arnolie quickly countered with a layup to move the needle back in the Bullets' favor, and a jumper by Szlosek pushed the lead up to three. The bucket started a point-for-point run for the teams that saw the Bullets heading into the second quarter, up 16-13.
Meghan Barbera (Fort Washington, Pa./Upper Dublin) and
Shinya Lee (Rochester, N.Y./Holderness Prep School) also contributed in the stretch.
• Arnolie made a quick jumper in the first four seconds of the second quarter to move the Bullets' lead to five, and it would be almost three minutes before the Fords could counter, as Abby Ryan made for Haverford. Another stretch with no scoring occurred before Ryan again hit a shot to bring the Fords within one with 5:42 left in the half.
Dejah Hill (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) sunk one at the charity stripe, which started a 7-0 run, capped by an Arnolie 3-pointer, to give the Bullets their largest lead of the game so far, 26-17. In the final two minutes of play, Cortlyn Morris hit a pair at the line, and Ryan drove in for a layup to send the teams into the locker rooms, 26-21.
• The Bullets controlled the third quarter from the beginning, with Arnolie hitting a trey from the left side only 15 seconds in, and Szlosek following up with a jumper on the Bullets' next possession, giving them a 10-point lead. Arnolie connected on another three only a minute after her first of the quarter, pushing the Bullets out to 34-23. The lead would remain anywhere from seven to 11 points for much of the quarter, as the Bullets went on a 11-9 run with the Fords to forge their largest lead of the game, at 13 points. Priore and Barbera each contributed two during the stretch, while
Emily Violante had the remaining seven, including a three-point play. With 3:07 to play in the third, the Fords began to chip away at the deficit, with Cortlyn Morris laying one in to start a 6-0 Haverford run to bring them within five, with 1:03 left to play in the quarter. However, on the Bullets' last possession of the quarter,
AB Holsinger (Crozet, Va./Langley) nailed a 3-pointer to move the Bullets back out to an eight-point lead with one quarter left to play.
• Gettysburg only widened their lead over Haverford in the final quarter of play. Priore split a pair at the line before making a jumper to bring the Bullets back to an 11-point edge, and buckets by Holsinger, Arnolie, and Priore ensured that the lead remained in double-digits with 5:23 left to play. A layup by Violante made it a 12-point lead, and Arnolie hit her fourth triple of the game to give the Bullets' their largest lead yet, at 15. In the final two minutes, three different Fords scored, including a trey by Morris. However, Violante and Holsinger were sent to the line in the waning minutes, along with Szlosek who made two trips. All three Bullets were perfect in their free throw attempts, and the Fords failed to score on their final possession, giving Gettysburg the 70-53 road win.
THE INSIDE STORY
•
Caitlyn Priore and
AB Holsinger each had nine points.
• Gettysburg shot 51.9% in field goals, and hit 55.6% of shots behind the arc. Haverford hit only 17 of 60 field goals on the day.
• With the win, the Bullets clinch at least the number three seed in the conference, earning a home game in the tournament. The remaining week of Centennial Conference play will determine whether the Bullets will host on Tuesday, February 21st, or Friday, February 24th.
NEXT UP
Gettysburg will return to action against Bryn Mawr on Monday. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
