February 28, 2001

Swarthmore, PA&emdash;Junior forward Heather Kile (Marlton, NJ &endash; Holy Cross) led Swarthmore (23-4) to a, 66-55 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball First Round victory over Gwynedd-Mercy (22-6). Kile scored 21 points and added 13 rebounds to pace the Garnet, while sophomore center Sarah Tufano (Cromwell, CT &endash; Cromwell) added 18 points and eight rebounds.

The Garnet jumped out to an, 11-0 lead holding the Griffins scoreless for the first 7:28 of the game. Gwynedd-Mercy scored the next five points to cut the lead to six but that was as close as they could get for the rest of the game. At the break the Garnet were up, 30-20. An 11-2 run to start the second half gave Swarthmore a 41-22 lead that the Griffins could not overcome. Senior guard Heather Marandola (Madison, ME &endash; Madison) recorded six of her seven points during the run.

First-year guard Katie Robinson (Medfield, MA &endash; Medfield) added 14 points and six steals for the Garnet. Junior guard Mary Anne Wade (Hatboro, PA &endash; Hatboro-Horsham) recorded a game-high 25 points for the Griffins, while senior forward Katie Murray Philadelphia, PA &endash; Cardinal Dougherty) added 10 points and a team-best seven rebounds.

Swarthmore shot 50 percent from the floor connecting on 27-of-54 attempts while Gwynedd-Mercy struggled to hit its shots, converting just 19-of-59 attempts to shoot 32.2 percent.

Swarthmore will travel to Elizabethtown on Saturday to take on the Blue Jays in a 2:00 p.m. NCAA Championship Second Round contest.

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