MEDFORD, Mass. – A fantastic and historic season for the Rosemont women’s basketball program came to an end on Friday night as the Ravens saw their 19-game winning streak snapped by Haverford by an 80-37 margin in the first round of the NCAA Division III Championships at Tufts University in Medford, Mass.
The Fords- the champions of the Centennial Conference- will move onto Saturday’s second round contest against the host Jumbos, who beat Western New England by a 70-44 margin in the nightcap of the doubleheader.
For the Ravens, the season ends with a 24-4 record, the school’s first Colonial States Athletic Conference title, a first appearance in the NCAA tournament and a load of memorable performances through a run that ended at the sport’s ultimate showcase.
On this night, it was poor shooting that doomed the Ravens. That was a trend for all of Haverford’s opponents coming into the game- the Fords had one of the best scoring defenses in the country.
On Friday evening, Rosemont was held to 13-for-58 from the floor (22.4 percent) and were 0 for 13 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Shawn Dowd was the leading scorer for the Ravens, scoring 15 points on 5 of 8 shooting from the floor. Angel Ricks scored eight points in just 10 minutes of work. Ashley Murray added 11 rebounds to the cause of the Ravens.
For Haverford, four players scored in double figures on the night. Megan Furch and Caroline Anderson had 14 points each while Maddie Gallic and Anna-Sophia Capizzi had 13. Gallic also had 14 rebounds on the evening.
This night doesn’t distract from what was a historic run. The Ravens previous high in wins was 17- that was shattered by seven victories. The previous longest winning streak was nine- that was more than doubled.
In 16 regular season wins, Rosemont averaged a 32.1 point margin of victory and only had one conference game decided by less than double figures- a nine point win over Wilson on Dec. 1. Every victory in the 19 game winning streak also had double figures dating back to before the Christmas holiday
.
All of those numbers will outlive the pain of the loss on Friday night. A great run ended on one night. The memory will keep going for a long time.
