|
LANCASTER, PA - Swarthmore College's Heather Kile finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds as the East Division #2 seeded Garnet became the first road team to upset a home team in the Centennial Conference women's basketball playoffs by defeating Franklin & Marshall College, 61-56, in the Mayser Center. For the Diplomats, Kile's performance was déjà vu as the 2000 CC Player of the Year led the Garnet to a 67-55 win over the Diplomats with 29 points and 21 rebounds in Swarthmore in the semi-final round of last year's Conference playoffs. Tonight, the game would be a matter of scoring runs as both teams used spurts of offense to take the lead, fall behind and retake the advantage throughout the game. Leading 6-2 following jumpers from Amy Kreitz (Sr., Allentown, PA/Salisbury) and Kelly Witkowski (Jr., Colts Neck, NJ/Marlboro), the Diplomats would fall behind 11-6 as Swarthmore engineered a 9-0 run behind a pair of field goals from 2002 CC Player of the Year Katie Robinson. Robinson finished the game with 14 points off a seven-of-11 performance from the field, and added four boards in 40 minutes. F&M would answer back with consecutive field goals, but the Garnet would push the lead to eight with a three pointer from Alison Furman and a Kile layup. But F&M would answer back with a 10-0 run to take a 20-18 lead with 8:01 left in the first half. The two teams would remain within three points leading up to half before Furman drilled an off-balance three-point shot with one second left before intermission to send the teams to the locker-rooms tied at 28-28. In the second half, Swarthmore would use outside shooting to build a 55-40 lead with 7:08 left on the game clock. But F&M would whittle the lead away in a hurry with a 16-0 run to take a 56-55 lead with 1:30 left. Following a pair of foul shots by Kile, F&M would begin their comeback as Witkowski scored a layup at 6:51. Thirty seconds later, senior Lauren Howanski (Gap, PA/Pequea Valley) drove to the hoop and was fouled making a field goal to cut the Garnet lead to 44-55. Kreitz and center Amy Abernathy (So., Far Hills, NJ/American School Paris) would shave eight points off in the next 1:20 as the duo converted pairs of field goals to put the Diplomats within three (52-55) with 3:38 left on the clock. Howanski would cut the lead further as she made two-of-two at the line off a Kate Tarr personal foul to make the score 55-54. After a minute of missed fast breaks, Kreitz connected on a jumper from the right of the basket to put F&M ahead 56-55. The Garnet would answer back following seven minutes of no points as Tarr missed a layup, but Kile collected the loose ball for her fifth offensive rebound of the game and laid it in to put Swarthmore up 57-56 with 56 seconds left. F&M would have a chance to retake the lead, but would miss the go-ahead jumper which was rebounded by Robinson who made both free-throws following a foul by Howanski. Down 59-56 with 26.7 seconds to go, the Diplomats would attempt a field goal to cut the lead to one, but the ball would rattle off the rim and into the waiting arms of Kile who made both free-throws following a foul by Fran DiFazio (Jr., Hampton, NJ/Pennington School) for the 61-56 final. For F&M, Abernathy finished with 14 points and a game high 20 rebounds. Howanski and Witkowski added 10 points, while Kreitz chipped in a team high 18. The key to the game would be outside shooting as the Garnet connected on five-of-seven from beyond the arch, while F&M went 0-for-9 from long range. In rebounds, F&M held a 46-30 advantage, including a 25-10 margin on the offensive glass. For Swarthmore, Robinson finished with 14 points and Furman added 18 as the Garnet, the 2001 Centennial Conference champions, will defend their trophy on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at Western Maryland College, a 53-52 winner at East #1 seed Muhlenberg. Historically, in the eight years on the Centennial Conference women's basketball championship, the home team has never lost a semifinal contest (16-0) prior to tonight's upsets of Muhlenberg and Franklin & Marshall. In fact, the closest game among the 16 was a four-point overtime victory by Ursinus over Gettysburg in 1995. Seven of the games have been decided by more than 20 points, while four have been won by 30+ points. In six of the eight games, the home team in the final has won the championship, including last season's 63-53 win by Swarthmore over Johns Hopkins. The exceptions are 1998 and 1999 when Muhlenberg and Johns Hopkins took turns winning on the other's court. The closest games have been a pair of two-point decisions, as Dickinson edged Ursinus, 78-76, in 1994 and Muhlenberg needed overtime to defeat Johns Hopkins, 73-71, in 1997. Swarthmore could have a tough time on Saturday as only twice in eight seasons as the Conference's leading scorer or rebounder led her team to the championship. In 1995, Ursinus' Ellen Cosgrove averaged 23.2 points and led her Bears to wins over Gettysburg and Johns Hopkins for Ursinus' only CC title. In 1996, Johns Hopkins sophomore Julie Anderson led the Conference with a 14.2 per game rebounding average and helped her Blue Jays to victories over Ursinus and Muhlenberg for the first of Hopkins' three titles. In 2002, F&M's Abernathy led the conference in rebounding, while Swarthmore's Robinson was the leading scorer. F&M (18-6, 11-4 CC) will await the announcement of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) playoff field on Monday morning. If F&M makes the tournament, their season will be extended at least one more game with the possibility of another home contest next Wednesday.
|
