Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
Swarthmore teams have been working hard through winter break; here are the results of their efforts.
Women’s basketball
Garnet Women’s basketball (6-8) has been working hard over break. They defeated York College (8-7) 79-39 and host Catholic University (7-4) 65-57 to win the Catholic University/Fairfield Inn Women’s Basketball Classic on Jan. 3 and 4. Kathryn Stockbower ’11 dominated the tournament on her way to MVP honors after registering 49 points and 27 rebounds. Ceylan Bodur ’11 contributed 8 points and 8 rebounds and was named to the all-tournament team.
The team played a then undefeated Gettysburg (13-1) away on Jan. 6. They made a valiant effort, coming back from 51-41 to the final score of 51-48 in the second half. Stockbower again lit up the scoreboard with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Bodur scored 11 points, and Summer Miller-Walfish ’11 added 6 rebounds, 5 points, and 5 blocks. But Gettysburg forced 28 Garnet turnovers on 14 steals and outscored the Garnet 20-9 in points-off turnovers and 14-7 in bench points.
On Jan. 9, Swarthmore played Franklin & Marshall (8-7) at home, defeating the Diplomats 55-43. Eliza Polli ’13 and Ceylan Bodur ’11 each scored 14 points, and Stockbower earned 12 points and 18 rebounds, the 52nd double-double of her career. Going into the second half, the Diplomats held a 21-20 lead, but the Garnet quickly took control of the game.
The Garnet defeated Dickinson (10-4) 72-70 on Jan. 12, thanks to Ceylan Bodur, who laid in the game-winning basket with four seconds remaining. Stockbower scored a team-high 16 points, and Pam Costello ’10 scored a season-high 13 points. On Jan. 16, Swat fell to Ursinus (7-7) 66-64. Stockbower scored 14 points and pulled down 13 rebounds for the 54th double-double of her career. Guard Madeline Ross ’13 scored 11 points off the bench and scored 10 of the 12 points that helped Swat tie the game 64-64 with 22 seconds remaining. However, Ursinus guard Alli Rosati sank two foul shots with 3.2 seconds remaining in regulation to break the tie.
Men’s basketball
The Swarthmore Men’s basketball team (3-12) made its way to Lexington, VA to play in the Washington and Lee Tournament on Jan. 2 after a 24-day break. Danny Walker ’10 and Ryan Carmichael ’11 each earned 14 points against host Washington and Lee (9-5) but the Garnet still fell 59-48 in the tournament opener. Early in the second half, Swat was down 21 points, but went on an 11-2 run and dropped the lead to 12 with 12:39 on the clock. Along with Walker and Carmichael, Will Gates ’13 and Jordan Martinez ’13 made significant contributions to the scoreboard with 5 points and 9 rebounds from Gates and 7 points from Martinez.
The next day, the 3rd, Swat defeated Drew University (3-11) 76-69 in the consolation match. The offense sunk a season-high ten 3-pointers, and the defense forced 17 turnovers. Gates dominated the scoreboard with 29 points, including four 3-pointers. He also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds and was named to the Washington and Lee All-Tournament team. Walker and Carmichael each scored 12 points, and Martinez scored 10 points. The score was tied 31-31 going into the second half, but the Garnet took command early and won the game with a season-high 76 points and season-low 8 turnovers.
On Jan. 6, the Garnet traveled to Gettysburg to play Gettysburg College (8-6). Gates led Swat with 17 points and 6 rebounds, and Carmichael scored a season-high 15 points. But the Gettysburg offense was powerful, shooting 56 percent from the field, and Gettysburg walked away with an 80-63 win. Three days later, Swat played Franklin and Marshall (12-3) at home. The game opened with a promising start for the Garnet, who had an 18-17 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the first half. Will Gates recorded a game-high 27 points and pulled down 7 rebounds, and Sam Lacy ’11 finished with a season-high 5 steals. But F&M’s potent offense proved too much for Swarthmore, with three players scoring over 17 points, and the game ended with a final score of 75-51.
Johns Hopkins (8-6) fought hard on Jan. 12 to defeat Swarthmore 64-58. The two teams were neck and neck, both teams battling courageously for the lead. The game was tied at 40-40 thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers from Walker and Carmichael with 11 minutes left in the game. But Hopkins came back with a 14-4 run, and despite that Swat outscored Hopkins 9-6 in the final minute of play, Johns Hopkins held onto their lead. Gates ended with a game-high 15 points, 11 of which were scored in the second half, and Carmichael tallied 14 points.
First-years really strutted their stuff in the Dickinson (0-12) game at home on Jan. 14. Gates, Martinez, and Eugene Prymak ’13 all scored in the double digits. At halftime, Swat was in the lead 30-27, and they began the second half with an 11-0 run in the first 6 minutes. The Garnet held on strong through Dickinson’s 15-4 run that put the score to 48-46 with about 6 minutes of play left, and the game ended with a third season win for Swat.
On Saturday, the Garnet played Ursinus (9-6) away. The game started out with a promising 12-7 lead with about 14 minutes left in the first half. But after some neck and neck battling for dominance, Swat missed 12 of its final 14 shots in the last 8 minutes of the half, and Ursinus connected on 10 of 13, ending the half with a 45-24 lead. The second half progressed similarly, with Swat never coming closer than 18 points, and Ursinus cleaned up with a 75-54 win.
The Swat men’s basketball will play a double-header with the women’s team away at Haverford on Wednesday. The women will play at 6PM, and the men will play at 8PM.
Indoor Track
On Friday afternoon, the Swarthmore indoor track teams participated in the Gotham City Cup at the New York Armory, their first competitions of the semester. Both teams had strong performances. On the men’s team, Daniel Ly ’12 took home two Top 10 finishes. He finished fifth in the men’s unseeded triple jump with a jump of 42’8, the second best jump in the Centennial Conference this season.
John McMinn ’13 and Jacob Phillips ’13, who ran impressively last semester on the cross country team, started off their indoor track careers with a bang. McMinn ran 9:22.78 and Phillips ran 9:25.45, earning second and fourth respectively in their 3000 meter heat. Chris Mayer-Bacon ’11 ran 2:10.22 in the 800 meter run, posting the Garnet’s best time.
In the 4×400 relay, the team of Mayer-Bacon, Andrew Van Buren ’10, Gabriel Ryan ’13, and Ian Anderson ’13 posted a season-best time of 3:49.12.
On the women’s team, Kenyetta Givans ’12, Ogechi Irondi ’12, and Lauren DeLuca ’10 all finished in the Top 10 in their events, and the relay team almost earned a Centennial-best time.
Givans competed for the first time in nearly a month and finished ninth in the 60m hurdles. Her collegiate-best time of 9.20 seconds was just 0.03 seconds shy of provisionally qualifying for the DIII NCAA National meet. Irondi’s shotput toss of 32’2.75” finished seventh overall in unseeded competition and warranted her a spot on the Swarthmore All-Time Top 10 list. DeLuca finished the women’s 1000 meter run in a time of 3:09.22, earning her 10th place.
DeLuca, Margret Lenfest ’12, Givans, and Rebecca Hammond ’13 competed as a team in the 4×400 relay, finishing in a time of 4:17.80. They won their heat and climbed to third in the Conference this season.
The teams will participate in the McElligott Invitational at Haverford College on Saturday Jan. 30.