Bullets clinch first seed in CC tournament
“A perfect shot by Swope (above) from beyond the arc gave Gettysburg the two-point lead with just over ten seconds left. With excellent defense and timely fouling, the Bullets prevented McDaniel from getting a shot off until there was one second left on the clock, but it was off and the Bullets were named Centennial Conference Regular Season Champions.”
By Alexander Cattermole, Staff Writer
It was around 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon when the Bullets heard that their upcoming game against McDaniel would decide the regular season Centennial Conference Champions. Swarthmore and Gettysburg entered Saturday tied with conference records of 15-4. They had met twice this season in equally thrilling games. In their first matchup of the season back on Dec.8, Swarthmore narrowly defeated the Bullets 53 to 52 off a spectacular 20-point performance by Junior guard Katie Lytle. The Bullets fired back in another nail-biter in late January when they won 55 to 54 on the road. Junior Cori Younghans led the Bullets with 16 points in the win.
The McDaniel Green Terror came into the game with hopes of playing the spoiler, as their 8-11 record left them far out of reach of the Centennial Playoffs. Gettysburg, already clinchers of a first round bye, was fighting for the critical first seed. The Bullets were the overwhelming favorites coming into the game, but McDaniel made it clear early on that at the very least they were going to put up one heck of a fight. The Green Terror took the lead 13 to 12 ten minutes into a low scoring first half, which they held steady going into the second with a 26 to 21 lead. Senior Rachael Rybak terrorized the Bullets to the tune of 16 points in the first half, more than half her team’s points.
Gettysburg came out with a renewed sense of purpose in the second half off a three by Jenna Swope, cutting the deficit to just one, 27 to 26. McDaniel answered back as they pushed the lead back to eight with only 14 minutes left to go in the game. Gettysburg slowly hacked away at their lead until, with six minutes to go, First-year Jessica Porter scored from the post to give the Bullets a 38-37 lead.
Any sense of relief from the Orange and Blue faithful quickly dissipated as McDaniel wrestled the lead back after 18 seconds when Rachael Rybak struck again. Another bucket by budding Bullets star Junior Caroline Murphy gave Gettysburg the 40-to-39 advantage with only five to go.
Defense dominated for the next few minutes as Gettysburg held on to that until the final minute and a half, when a shot in the paint by Sophomore Emma Wingerd put McDaniel back on top. Both teams missed their next shots and Gettysburg called a time out.
Coming out with a renewed fire, the Orange and Blue headed down the court with Murphy in position to win the game with 22 seconds remaining. She took a jump shot, but missed. It likely would have ended there were it not for a fortuitous offensive rebound. A perfect shot by Swope from beyond the arc gave Gettysburg the two-point lead with just over ten seconds left. With excellent defense and timely fouling, the Bullets prevented McDaniel from getting a shot off until there was one second left on the clock, but it was off and the Bullets were named Centennial Conference Regular Season Champions.
As the number one seed, the Bullets will host the Centennial Conference Tournament and face the winner of the bye round between the fourth and fifth seeds. Johns Hopkins and Haverford will play on Feb. 20 to decide who will be playing the Bullets on Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. at Bream Gymnasium. Their game will be followed by the other Semifinal between Muhlenberg and Swarthmore. With plenty of Centennial Conference action, make sure to come out and support your team as it fights for its seventh Centennial Conference Championship since 2000.
