Bullets outscore Washington in second-half win
Junior Caroline Murphy scored eight points in the Lady Bullets’ game against the Washington College Shorewomen on Feb. 9.
Courtesy of GCC&M
Junior Caroline Murphy (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) and First-year Jessica Porter (Narberth, Pa./Lower Merion) out-scored host Washington College by themselves in the second half to lead Gettysburg College to a 61-49 win over the Shorewomen on Saturday afternoon.
Gettysburg (17-6, 14-4 CC) kept pace with Swarthmore College (18-5, 14-4 CC) atop the conference standings with only two games remaining. The Garnet defeated Franklin & Marshall College 74-68 on Saturday. Both teams assured themselves of first-round byes with wins. The team with the best record will host the Centennial Conference semifinals and championship slated for Feb. 22-23.
Murphy and Porter combined for 24 points as the Bullets out-scored Washington (10-13, 8-10 CC) 35-23 in the final period. The key run came midway through the final frame when the Shorewomen had pulled to 42-40 on a pair of free throws by Kelly Mitchell.
Gettysburg mounted a 13-0 run with Murphy accounting for eight points. She knocked down a pair of free throws to give the visitors a 55-40 advantage with 5:05 on the clock.
Washington closed to eight points with just over a minute remaining, but a lay-up by Porter and free throws by Murphy in the final minute helped seal the victory.
The first 30 minutes of the game went back-and-forth as Washington jumped in front 7-2 in the opening minutes before watching Gettysburg rebound to take a 14-11 lead at 8:16. Carley Kendall would put the Shorewomen in front 26-24 before Murphy converted the last bucket to tie the game heading into halftime.
Murphy turned in one of her best all-around performances of the season. She finished one shy of her career high with 20 points on 8-of-20 shooting from the floor. She added a career-high eight assists with five rebounds and four steals.
Porter ripped down a career-high 13 rebounds to go with 18 points and a personal best five blocked shots. She finished 7-of-18 from the field en route to her third double-double of the season.
After missing the previous game due to illness, Junior Cori Younghans (Succasunna, N.J./Roxbury) bounced back strong with nine points and three rebounds. Classmate Katie Earley (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Trinity) added six points, four rebounds, and three steals for the Bullets.
Ashley Espinosa led Washington with 13 points, while Erin Fitzgerald tallied 11 points and nine rebounds.
Gettysburg travels to Dickinson College (13-9, 9-9 CC) for a conference game on Wednesday, Feb. 13, at 7 p.m. The Bullets defeated the Red Devils 62-46 on Jan. 23.
