SWARTHMORE, Pa. — Led by senior Kiersten Rose’s double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds, Washington defeated Swarthmore, 52-36, for its first Centennial Conference basketball victory of the season Saturday.
Washington’s Kaitlyn Boggs led all scorers with 13 points.
Abby Meredith’s 3-pointer with 8 minutes, 32 seconds remaining in the second quarter gave the visitors from Chestertown the lead for good, 16-14.
The spread at halftime was 26-20.
Washington (5-3, 1-1 CC) opened the second half on a 15-5 run, fueled by five points from Rose and four from Boggs.
WC took its first double-digit lead at 31-20 on a Rose layup with about two minutes elapsed in the third quarter.
The locals led by as many as 18 points in the quarter — 41-23 on another Rose layup, this one set up by a Karry Kelliher steal — with 2:02 to play.
Sarah O’Leary made the back end of a two-shot foul with 2:44 remaining to give the Shore ladies their largest lead of the game at 50-27.
Washington cleared its bench, and received scoring from eight of the 12 players who made the trip.
Washington’s next home game is Saturday, Dec. 14 against non-conference foe Marymount. Tip-off is at 2 p.m.
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BALTIMORE — The Shore ladies’ three-game winning streak was halted Dec. 4 at Johns Hopkins in the conference opener for both schools.
In a preseason poll of the Centennial head coaches, JHU is picked to finish first.
The Blue Jays, who had averaged 87.7 points in their three previous games, grinded out a 61-37 victory against the scrappy Shore cagers.
Spotting JHU a quick 4-0 start, Washington closed out the opening frame on a 14-3 run, including the last seven points — holding Hopkins scoreless over the final 3:58.
The home team rallied with 35 points in the middle two frames to push out to a 42-25 lead after three quarters.
A Macie Feldman 3-pointer to open the second quarter jumpstarted a 14-1 run that turned the 14-7 deficit into a 21-15 lead that was never seriously threatened.
Up 28-21 at the break, the Blue Jays (6-2, 2-0 CC) limited their guests to four third-quarter points and slowly built the seven-point halftime lead to 17 at the end of three.
Feldman had nine points and seven rebounds in the opening half, and finished with team highs of 11 points and nine rebounds.
Washington’s top contributors were Emma Robinson with nine points and 12 rebounds and Boggs with eight points and 11 rebounds.