Sports

Garnet squeaks by Squirrels 57-56, drops one to Dips

In print | February 7, 2008

Last Wednesday, the Swarthmore women’s basketball team trekked over to Gooding Arena to take on the rival Haverford College Black Squirrels. The game proved to be an exciting battle, as the lead went back and forth multiple times before the final buzzer sounded, signaling a hard-won victory for the Garnet. By beating Haverford 57-56, the women’s squad effectively put a stop to its demoralizing eight-game losing streak.

The team went into the game on Wednesday with confidence, but they also knew that they would have to work hard for the win. “Our attitude was that the Haverford game was ours to win [as long as] we wanted it. That attitude kept us focused on a play-by-play basis,” Lisa Schumacher ’10 said. While Haverford was behind Swarthmore in the conference standings going into the game, the players knew they would need to fight for the win.

Haverford struck first, scoring immediately after the tip-off, setting the tone for a tough contest. Despite the constant pressure put on by the Garnet, the first half seemed to favor the Fords as they held onto the lead for the majority of the half. Swarthmore, however, stayed strong. Laura Popovics ‘08 scored her 100th career three-pointer, and she was on fire from the three point line, sinking four threes and helping Swat cut back the home team’s lead to six points before halftime; the teams went into the locker rooms with the score at 31-25, favoring the Fords.

After the half Swarthmore continued to put pressure on the Fords, responding to the loud chants of the opposing fans with an aggressive offensive run. Kathryn Stockbower ‘11, named Centennial Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week on Feb. 4, posted a double-double, bringing down a career high 21 rebounds and scoring a team high 17 points. Stockbower’s 21 rebounds were good for the third highest number of rebounds in a single game in Swarthmore Women’s Basketball history.

Pam Costello ’10 tallied eight points on the day, and Karen Berk ’08 and Ceylan Bodur ’11 each scored six.

After taking the lead off a Stockbower jumper, Swarthmore continued to put the pressure on, their lead peaking at eight points with about nine minutes to go. The rest of the game was back and forth, each team making runs at the other until the bitter end. Stockbower sunk a lay up with less than a minute remaining to put the Garnet ahead by one. Haverford put up their last, desperate shots, but failed to take back the lead by the time the whistle blew, leaving Swarthmore triumphant.

While the team came out of the win on Wednesday with newfound momentum and energy, they faced a tough crew of Diplomats on Saturday, Feb. 2, as they traveled to Lancaster to take on Franklin and Marshall College. The Diplomats are one of the strongest teams in the conference (8-3 CC, 13-5 overall), and although the Garnet put up an outstanding effort, the Diplomats came through victorious, holding the lead the entire game and coming through with a 84-55 win over the Garnet. Stockbower had another impressive game for the Garnet, picking up yet another double-double (her 15th on the year) with 12 points and 17 rebounds.

Berk tallied 10 points, and Melissa Grigsby ‘09 scored 9, while also notching a few assists and two steals. After the game, Coach Renee DeVarney commented on the team’s performance. “We need a little more toughness and physical aggression. We are a team of nice girls, which in many ways is good, but sometimes we just need to get ticked off and take it to the other team,” DeVarney said.

Despite the loss to Franklin and Marshall, the win at Haverford broke Swarthmore’s eight-game losing streak and ensured an improvement from their record last season (5-13 overall this season over 4-20 overall last season). The team hopes to bounce back from their latest loss and keep the energy up in the home stretch of their season. “It basically comes down to having the will to win,” Berk said.

“We decided as a team that from here on out, there are no more excuses. Everyone is playing hard the entire time they step foot on the court and hopefully we won’t have another game like F&M for the rest of the season,” Berk said.