SWARTHMORE, Pa. – The Swarthmore College women's basketball team came up just short in an entertaining contest versus Salisbury University on Saturday afternoon, 63-60.
The two squads played a fast-paced and efficient first half with each side shooting over 50 percent from the field. The Sea Gulls had a 35-29 lead at the break. Salisbury increased its cushion to 10 in the third but the Garnet battled back and trailed by three early in the fourth. Swarthmore evened the score at 55 with 3:27 to go but a three-pointer gave the Sea Gulls the advantage for good as they held off the Garnet down the stretch.
Swarthmore suffered the tough defeat despite shooting a season-high 48.2 percent.
Catherine Chadwell paced the squad with 17 points and four steals.
Lily Czub shot 5-of-7 from the floor and finished with 12 points.
Emy Chen and
Carly Murphy tallied nine and eight points respectively.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The teams played a thrilling, back-and-forth opening quarter. The Garnet shot 9-of-14 while the Sea Gulls were 7-of-11 from the field. The margin stayed within one possession for the duration of the period and there were five ties. Swarthmore held a slim 19-18 edge heading into the second. Czub led the way in the stanza with seven points.
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Samara Diggs and Murphy began the second with back-to-back layups to up the Garnet lead to five (23-18). Salisbury answered with six straight points to take a 24-23 advantage with 6:11 on the clock. Chen's layup at the 4:04 mark put her team up one (27-26) with 4:40 to play but the Sea Gulls responded with a 9-0 run to take the lead. Chadwell closed the half with a layup and Swarthmore trailed 35-29 at intermission.
- Salisbury scored six of the first eight points in the third to increase its cushion to 10 (41-31) at the 6:18 mark. The Garnet gradually cut into the deficit and got within four (47-43) after a Chadwell and-one three-point play with 1:58 remaining. The Sea Gulls netted two free throws and Chadwell scored a layup before a Salisbury jumper ended the quarter and gave the visitors a 51-45 advantage entering the fourth.
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Claire Mathews drilled a pair of threes around a Sea Gulls jump shot and the score was 53-51 with 6:31 to play. After a Salisbury layup, Murphy and Czub made back-to-back buckets to tie the score at 55 with 3:27 to go. The Sea Gulls came back with a clutch triple to go ahead 58-55 with 3:09 left.
- Both teams came up empty on their next three possessions before Czub ended the scoring drought with a layup with 36 seconds left. Salisbury then turned the ball over and Swarthmore had a chance to take the lead down one but a jumper was off the mark. Both sides made one of two shots at the line and the score was 59-58 in favor of the Sea Gulls with 10 seconds to go.
- The Garnet fouled and Salisbury made both shots to make it a three-point game (61-58) with seven ticks remaining. Murphy made a quick jumper to get within one and Swarthmore put the Sea Gulls at the stripe again. Salisbury converted both attempts and the Garnet were unable to get a desperation shot off in time as the Sea Gulls survived.
GARNET LEADERS
Points: Chadwell 17
Rebounds: Diggs 6
Assists: Murphy 4
Blocks: Murphy 1
Steals: Chadwell 4
Threes: Mathews 2
UP NEXT
Swarthmore (6-14) closes its non-conference schedule on Monday when the Garnet host Penn State Hazleton.
