Host Washington College got double-doubles from junior guard Meghan Tait (Oxford, PA/Oxford Area) and junior guard/forward Sally O’Donnell (Cape May Court House, NJ/Wildwood Catholic) en route to a 78-72 victory over visiting McDaniel on Monday night at the Cain Athletic Center in Centennial Conference women’s basketball action. The Shorewomen improve to 10-13 overall and 9-9 in conference play, while the Green Terror drop to 7-17 and 5-14 respectively. The victory for Washington snaps a 15-game losing streak to McDaniel as the Shorewomen last topped the Green Terror 84-80 on February 22, 2003. The 78 points was also a season-high for the Shorewomen.
O’Donnell had 22 points and had a career-high 13 rebounds and also a personal best seven assists. She also blocked four shots in the triumph. Tait had a season-high 17 points and handed out a game-best 11 assists.
McDaniel took a 7-6 lead with 16:50 left in the first half on a Whitney Snoops jumper, but 19 seconds later Washington took an 8-7 on a layup by O’Donnell. The layup ignited a 13-4 run as the hosts took a 19-11 lead with 12:39 to go in the first on a Tait layup. The Green Terror would score the next nine points to take a 20-19 lead with 10:49 left in the half on a Cara Thompson layup. However the Shorewomen would outscore the Green Terror, 20-12, the rest of the first half to take a 39-32 lead into the intermission. WC took its biggest lead of the half with 2:54 remaining at 39-30 on a layup by freshman guard Claire Mattox (Arlington, VA/Potomac School).
In the second half, Tait gave Washington its biggest lead of the game at 45-35 with 18:11 left in the contest. McDaniel though would use a 27-15 run over the next 11:40 to take its lone lead in the second half with 6:31 to play at 62-60. Thompson began the run with a layup to cut the lead to 45-37 with 17:12 to go. Thompson would can a jumper with 14:39 left to trim the Washington lead to 47-44. A Tait jumper would push the WC lead back out to 55-48 with 12:06 left and the Green Terror called a timeout. Thompson would cut the Washington lead to 58-56 with 8:08 left when she netted two free throws. Meredith Larsen would even the game at 60-60 when she scored on a jumper with 7:15 to go. Thompson would McDaniel back in the lead for the first time since the 10:49 mark of the first half and give the Green Terror a 62-60 lead with 6:31 left.
O’Donnell would answer on the next possession as she tied it at 62-62 on a layup with 6:08 to go. O’Donnell would drain a three-pointer with 4:58 to go to put Washington up for good at 65-62. The Shorewomen led 67-65 with 3:03 left before scoring the next seven points to take a 74-65 lead with 1:46 left. Freshman guard/forward Erin Fitzgerald (Greensboro, NC/Bishop McGuiness) began the run with a layup on a feed from Tait to make it 69-65 with 2:50 left. On the next possession, freshman forward Latisha Pledger (Chesapeake, VA/Indian River) stole the ball and the Shorewomen were awarded a timeout before the Green Terror could tie her up with 2:23 left. During the timeout, a technical foul was assessed on the McDaniel bench and O’Donnell hit one of the two technical free throws to make it 70-65. O’Donnell was fouled 13 seconds later and made both to give the hosts a 72-65 with 2:10 left. Following a missed jumper by McDaniel, Pledger closed out the run on a transition layup to make it 74-65 with 1:46 to go.
McDaniel would score seven of the next eight points to close the gap to 75-72 with 41 seconds left. Thompson hit a layup with 1:32 to go and then scored on another lay-in to cut the lead to 74-69 with 59 ticks remaining. After Washington hit one free throw to extend it to 75-69, Snoops made a trifecta to cut the lead to 75-72 with 41 seconds.
On WC’s next possession, McDaniel’s Allie Edler stole a pass near midcourt and drove to the basket, but she missed the layup and Fitzgerald got the rebound with 19 seconds remaining. Tait was fouled four seconds later and made one of two from the line to increase the lead to 76-72. After a McDaniel miss, Mattox got the board and was fouled. She hit both free throws with six seconds left to provide the final margin.
In addition to O’Donnell and Tait, Pledger had 17 points for the Shorewomen.
Thompson had career-highs of 28 points and 10 assists in the loss for McDaniel and her 28 points was a game-best. She was one of two Green Terror players to notch a double-double. Snoops had 16 points and grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds. Larsen added 13 points for the visitors.
Washington shot 49% (29-for-59) in the win from the floor, 57% (4-for-7) from three-point range and 84% (16-for-19) from the free throw line. McDaniel shot 43% from the floor (30-for-70), 50% (4-for-8) from behind the arc and 73% (8-for-11) from the foul line. The Shorewomen held a 41-32 edge on the boards. The Green Terror had just 10 turnovers, while the Shorewomen had 17 miscues.
The Shorewomen outscored the Green Terror in points in the paint (38-24), fast-break points (6-0) and bench points (22-4). The Green Terror outscored the Shorewomen in points off turnovers (21-14), while both teams had 11 second-chance points.
Washington returns to action on Wednesday evening with a 6:00 p.m. game at Ursinus in a key Centennial Conference game as both teams have hopes of reaching the conference tournament. Ursinus is currently 10-8 in conference action.
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