BY GENEVRA PITTMAN

In print | Published February 24, 2005

Bring on the playoffs. With a crushing 73-42 win in its final game of the regular season Tuesday against Haverford, the women’s basketball team secured its spot as the fourth seed in the Centennial Conference, posting a record of 11-7 (15-10 overall). Swarthmore will host Gettysburg tonight at 7 p.m. to determine who will move on to the conference semifinals this weekend.

Following a tough loss on Saturday at Gettysburg, the Garnet came into Tuesday night’s game contending with Gettysburg and Franklin & Marshall for the final two spots in the playoffs. But Swarthmore’s dominance over the Fords began early and the squad steadily increased its lead throughout the game, leaving little question that a playoff berth was waiting for the Garnet after a woodshed beating in Haverford’s Alumni Fieldhouse.

Despite the absence team scoring and rebounding leader Radiance Walters ‘06, the Garnet used its conference-leading defense to deny the Fords scoring opportunities again and again. After taking a 10-9 lead, the Garnet went on a 16-point run that held the Fords scoreless for almost seven minutes, establishing an insurmountable 26-9 lead. The Tide had four steals during that stretch alone, two apiece by Jen Stevenson ’06 and Karen Berk ’08, a member of last week’s Centennial Conference Honor Roll. Swarthmore finished the game in criminal fashion, with 18 steals off a total of 27 Haverford turnovers.

By halftime, the Garnet had increased its lead to 37-15, and things were looking used-car bleak for the Fords. The second half didn’t start much better, as the Garnet continued to pound out points, going ahead 51-20 five minutes into the period thanks to the sharp shooting of Jessica Fuhr ‘07. Although Erica Juliano hit some big shots down the stretch for the Fords, it was barely enough to stop Haverford’s suffering, as Cara Tigue ’06, who had a career-high nine rebounds that night, banked two free throws in the final seconds of the game.

Ali Wolff ’05 and Kristen Lee ’05 enjoyed their last game in the Swarthmore-Haverford rivalry with big nights, each contributing 14 points. Fuhr and Debbie Farrelly ’06 also had strong games for the Garnet, putting down 11 points each.

“I thought the energy was really good,” coach Adrienne Shibles said of the game. “I was happy to see everyone contribute.”

Swarthmore will bring the momentum of Tuesday night’s blowout into Tarble Pavilion tonight, hoping to avenge last weekend’s 82-69 loss to the Bullets. Gettysburg is also coming off a strong performance, falling to conference-leading Dickinson by a slim margin 86-83. The Bullets are a large team, and Swarthmore will have to match their physical play and maintain composure. “We have to be really scrappy on the defensive end,” Shibles said.

Last time Swarthmore faced off against the Bullets at home, on Jan. 15, the Garnet posted a 63-51 win and had four of its starters finish in double figures. The squad will need an equally impressive showing tonight if it hopes to defeat the Bullets when it really counts.

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