SWARTHMORE, Pa.–The Swarthmore College women's basketball team withstood a late run from the visiting Houghton Highlanders as it picked up a 58-55 win on Friday, Nov. 17 in the opening game of the Swarthmore Tip-Off Classic.

The Garnet outscored their opponents by a 24-10 margin in the second quarter and held on to that lead down the stretch. Lindsay O'Sullivan led all players with 14 points, including a 5-of-6 mark at the line, and collected seven rebounds. Abigail Pirron and Elizabeth Stiles each recorded nine points while Audra Woodside and Christina Holmgren both had eight. Off the bench, freshman guard Isabelle Ewart handed out five assists to no turnovers in 26 minutes of action.

After the first quarter, Swarthmore trailed the Highlanders by four points at 15-11. The teams traded baskets to begin the second until 23-20 in favor of Houghton. Stiles hit a jumper and Christina Holmgren scored in the paint to give the Garnet their first lead of the evening. First-year player Kendall Tribus converted an and-one to continue the scoring and layups by her and O'Sullivan made it 31-23. A trey from Stiles expanded the lead to 11 before Houghton finally scored in the final 30 seconds of the frame. A free throw by Holmgren brought the lead back to double digits heading into the break.

In the third quarter, the Highlanders trimmed their deficit before a 6-0 Garnet run restored it to 11 points. Houghton inched closer and in the final moments of the frame, O'Sullivan sank a pair of freebies for a 49-40 advantage for the hosts.

Turnovers hurt the Garnet in the fourth and the visitors capitalized, eventually making it a one-score game at 54-51 with 3:22 on the clock. Swarthmore collected itself with a timeout, but could not possess the ball as Houghton came within one, 56-55, as 21 seconds remained. The Highlanders had a foul to give and used another to put Stiles at line, who converted both for a 4-for-4 mark at the charity stripe. The visitors missed with three seconds left and could not sink a game-tying three as time expired, giving Swarthmore its first win of the season.

The Garnet conclude action at the Tip-Off Classic against the Rochester Institute of Technology on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 3 p.m.