CHESTERTOWN, Md. – Ali Moreland (Davidsonville,
Md./South River) netted a game- and career-high 24 points
to lead McDaniel to a 77-68 Centennial Conference (CC)
women's basketball victory at Washington (Md.) on Saturday.
The Green Terror (13-10, 11-6 CC) tallied 15 of the game's
final 18 points, including finishing the game on a 9-0 to break a
68-all deadlock with 3:05 to play to move into second place in the
CC standings with one week to play.
Sally Grace (Catonsville, Md./Mount de Sales
Academy) contributed a season-best 17 points, including
hitting four of her five attempts from behind the arc.
Meredith Larsen (Phoenix, Md./Bryn Mawr) and
Ashley Lyles (Laurel, Md./St. Vincent Pallotti)
added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Brianne Slizofski and Jane
O'Donnell led the Shorewomen (10-13, 5-11 CC) with
18 and 17 points, respectively.
Trailing 65-62 on a pair of O'Donnell free throws with 4:46
to play, Lyles put back a Kim Staub (Hanover, Pa./Delone
Catholic) miss 21 seconds later to start the McDaniel
comeback.
Staub hit a jumper on the Green Terror's next possession to
give her team a one-point advantage and Larsen converted off one of
Moreland's four assists to stretch the lead to 68-65 with
3:20 showing.
O'Donnell canned a 3-pointer on Washington's next
possession but those would be the Shorewomen's final
points.
Laren hit a jumper with 2:38 to play to spark the 9-0 run to the
finish.
Kim Action (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) added
a pair of free throws at the 1:51 mark before Grace hit a layup and
converted a single free throw and Moreland hit on two from the
charity stripe in the final minute.
A Jessica Jamrogowicz 3-pointer gave the
Shorewomen a 3-0 lead 1:23 into the contest but the Green Terror
got nine straight points from its forwards to grab a 9-3 lead with
15:08 remaining in the first half.
Clinging to a 15-14 advantage midway through the opening stanza,
McDaniel reeled off a 10-2 burst over a 2-minute, 14-second span to
grab a nine-point lead. Grace capped the stretch with back-to-back
triples.
Washington countered with a 14-4 stretch of its own to take a 30-29
edge on a Meghan Tait trey with 4:29 to play in
the half. The Shorewomen pushed the lead to as many as five en
route to a 36-35 halftime advantage.
A Moreland steal-and-layup gave McDaniel a one-point lead 16
seconds into the second half but Washington tallied 12 of the
game's next 14 points to grab a 48-39 lead with 15:55 to
play.
Trailing 61-55 on two Tait free throws with 8:20 remaining, Lyles
hit two free throws of her own and Grace buried a 3-pointer to pull
the visitors within one 1:29 later.
Two Moreland free throws at the 5:38 mark turned the one-point
deficit into a one-point lead but four straight tosses from the
charity stripe by Slizofski and O'Donnell gave the hosts the
edge once again.
Moreland added five steals to her 24 points and four assists. Lyles
added three assists and three blocked shots.
Coupled with the other results from Saturday, the Green Terror is
positioned for its eighth consecutive CC playoff berth after the
victory. McDaniel holds a half-game lead on four other teams
deadlocked at 10-6 for third place. Four of the five teams with six
losses will make the CC tournament. With the right combination of
results on Wednesday, the Green Terror could clinch a berth before
its finale at Gettysburg on Saturday.
McDaniel returns to action at Goucher on Thursday. Game time is 7
p.m.
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