Feb. 19, 2003

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - Senior center Kathy Darling (Milford, DE/Milford) scored a game-high 28 points and senior guard Ashley Shepler (Tornado, WV/Charleston Catholic) tied her season-high with 16 points to lead Johns Hopkins past McDaniel College, 78-73 this evening in Centennial Conference women's basketball action.

The Blue Jays improved to 18-5 overall and 12-1 in the conference with their seventh consecutive win, while the Green Terror fell to 17-6 overall and 8-5 in conference action. JHU avenged its only conference loss, a 76-70 setback to McDaniel on January 25 in Westminster, Maryland.

Hopkins took control of the game early and led 16-6 following a jumper from Shepler. McDaniel cut the margin to 28-24 with 2:14 left the first half, but back-to-back three pointers from Shepler gave JHU a 10-point lead at 34-24. Hopkins took a 36-28 advantage into halftime.

The Blue Jays increased the lead to 45-33 at the 17:26 mark of the second half before McDaniel answered with a 14-3 run to cut the deficit to 48-47 with 12:26 remaining. Shepler gave Hopkins a 56-51 lead on a three pointer with 9:54 remaining, but the Green Terror responded with a 5-0 run and tied the game on two Toby McIntire free throws.

McIntire gave McDaniel its first lead at 58-57 with 7:42 left and the teams exchanged the lead five times before Darling gave the Blue Jays the lead for good on a layup with 5:34 left to play. JHU made 6-of-8 free throws in the final two minutes to seal the victory.

Darling, who was 12-for-21 from the field and 4-of-7 from the line, missed her season-high by one point. She also finished with seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. Shepler nailed 4-of-8 from beyond the arc, while adding six rebounds and three assists. Darling and Shepler were playing in their final regular season home game of their careers.

Junior guard Trista Snyder (West Chester, PA/Unionville) and sophomore guard Ashley Felix (Pittsburgh, PA/North Catholic) also reached double figures with 10 points apiece. Snyder tied Darling for the team-high with seven rebounds, while Felix collected a game-high five assists and four steals. Sophomore forward Kelly Rumsey (Atlanta, GA/Marist School) chipped in with six points and six rebounds.

McIntire finished with a team-high 17 points for McDaniel, while Kristy Costa added 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and a 4-for-4 performance from the line. Kelly Cramp and Kris Brust added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Jacqueline Pundt totaled three blocks and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds as the Green Terror outrebounded Hopkins, 50-38.

The Blue Jays conclude the regular season Saturday as Hopkins travels to face Centennial rival Franklin & Marshall at 2:00 p.m.

Box Score 1 2 -F
McDaniel (17-6, 8-5 Centennial) 26 45 -73
Johns Hopkins (18-5, 12-1 Centennial) 36 42 -78