January 15, 2009
Green Terror Fend Off Shorewomen, 65-57
Sally O'Donnell Nets 10 Points In Washington Debut

WESTMINSTER, MD – Host McDaniel College jumped out to a 37-24 halftime lead and held off a visiting Washington College rally to down the guests, 65-57, on Thursday night in Centennial Conference women's basketball action at the Gill Center. The Green Terror improved to 6-6 overall and 4-3 in conference play with the win, while the Shorewomen fell to 8-3 and 3-2 with the loss.

McDaniel jumped out to a 20-6 lead in the first 11:05, connecting on eight of its first 11 shots, while Washington was just 2-for-16 in that same stretch. Ashley Lyles scored six of the points during the opening run, hitting all three of her shots. The Green Terror would build up their lead to 31-14 on a three-pointer by Sally Grace with 3:53 left in the opening half, but the Shorewomen would cut it to 10 at 34-24 on a layup by junior guard Jessica Jamrogowicz (Marlton, NJ/Bishop Eustace) with 57 ticks to go in the opening half, but the Green Terror responded with a three by Meredith Larsen to make it 37-24 with 46 seconds left and that would be the score at halftime. McDaniel shot 65.2% in the first half (15-for-23), while Washington shot just 27.6% (8-for-29).

Washington would score 10 of the first 15 points in the second to get the deficit to single digits. Senior guard Brianne Slizofski (Collegeville, PA/St. Pius X) converted a layup and was fouled. She netted the free throw to cut the McDaniel lead to 42-34 with 14:55 remaining. The Shorewomen cut it to six at 46-40 on a free throw by freshman forward Meghan Lepley (Baldwin, MD/Baltimore Lutheran) with 12:04 left. McDaniel scored back to back hoops to extend the lead to 50-40 with 10:54 to go. Freshman guard Meghan Tait (Oxford, PA/Oxford Area) scored five straight points to trim the McDaniel lead to 50-45 with just 9:24 left. McDaniel led 53-48 before churning off six straight points to take a 59-48 lead with 4:54 to go. Washington would not go away, scoring seven of the next nine points to trim the hosts lead to 61-55 with 53 seconds left. The Green Terror would net four free throws in the last 48 seconds to seal the victory.

McDaniel's Ali Moreland led all players with 17 points, 12 of which came in the second half, while Kara Smith netted 10 points in the win. Lyles had game-highs in rebounds (12), and blocks (3) to go along with eight points.

For the Shorewomen, Slizofski netted 13 points to lead WC. Freshman guard/forward Sally O'Donnell (Cape May Court House, NJ/Wildwood Catholic) netted 10 points in her Washington debut and Tait also added 10 points, all coming in the final 20 minutes. Junior forward Julie Sherwood (Fairfield, CT/Fairfield Warde) grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Jamrogowicz and Tait each nothced a game-best four steals.

McDaniel shot 48% in the win, while Washington shot just 35% in the contest. The Green Terror outrebounded the Shorewomen, 42-30, outscored the guests in the paint by a 30-20 margin and held the edge in bench points 27-15. Washington outscored McDaniel on points off of turnovers, 24-12, and tallied 18 steals to just nine for McDaniel. The Green Terror committed 32 turnovers, while the Shorewomen had 23.

The Shorewomen return to action Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. Centennial Conference contest versus Dickinson.

BOX SCORE