SWARTHMORE, Pa. - The Dickinson women's basketball team shot a season-high 42.3% (22-52) from the floor and got double-digits from three players to hold off the host Swarthmore College Garnet by a final of 56-51 in Centennial Conference action at Tarble Pavilion. 

Dickinson was out of the gates fast with Gina Neigel finishing twice in the paint and Kate Montgomery hitting a jumper to take a 6-0 lead in the opening two minutes. Norah Wingfield then bookended a 7-0 Swarthmore run to claim a 7-6 advantage with just over five minutes gone. Kayla Rose split a pair on the stripe and Jenna Weinstein added a layup in the final minute to make it 9-7 after one.

Dana Bandurick converted a layup 16-seconds into the next period to tie the score, but then a 10-0 Devils charge aided by buckets from Caitlin Blackman, Neigel, and Montgomery made it 19-9 at the halfway point. A triple by Katelyn Becker brought the Garnet within 20-15, prior to a jumper by Neigel bumping the margin back out to seven 22-15. Alyssa Hayashi picked up the final points of the half on a layup with 16-seconds left to send it to the break at 22-17.

Swat drew even at 22 with just 1:31 off the clock in the third. A three-ball from Blackman sparked a 9-3 DC charge with Neigel adding four points during that stretch and Montgomery chipping in a layup to make it 31-25. Clair Marion got into the scoring with a shot from downtown and Montgomery put back her own missed layup stretching the advantage to 36-29 with 3:27 left. The teams would seesaw back and forth over the next couple of minutes with two free throws by Carolina Lopez trimming the deficit by one 41-35. Blackman took a nice feed from Marion to beat the buzzer with a jumper making it 43-35 after 30 minutes. 

The Garnet took advantage of early DC fouls in the fourth to pick up four of six consecutive points on the charity line cutting the deficit down to 43-41 with less than two minutes off the clock. Two Jennifer Kremp triples and jumpers from Mia Kolb and Montgomery extended the Red and Black lead to double-digits 53-43 at the 4:44 mark. Two treys by T. Sallie sandwiched two foul shots from Kremp making it 55-49 still with 3:31 to go. The scoring would dry up considerably the rest of the way with Bandurick finishing at the rim and Blackman knocking down a free throw for the 56-51 final.

Red Devil Leaders

Points - Neigel (17), Blackman (11), Montgomery (10)

Rebounds - Marion (8), Blackman (6), Montgomery (5)

Assists - Lindsey Hollenshead and Marion (3), Blackman and Montgomery (2)

Garnet Leaders

Points - Bandurick (17), Sallie (14)

Rebounds - Bandurick (9), Sallie and Wingfield (6)

Assists - Lopez (4), Bandurick (3)

Next on the Court

Dickinson will take a break for finals, before taking part in the University of Scranton Holiday Challenge on Tuesday, December 21st at 7:30 p.m. when they take on the host and 19th-ranked Royals. They will then play again on the 22nd against either Stevenson University or The College of New Jersey.