Jan. 20, 2005

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - Junior Sara Franz led all scorers with 21 points and McDaniel outscored Johns Hopkins 41-24 in the second half for a 77-59 Centennial Conference win over the host Blue Jays at Goldfarb Gymnasium. The loss was Hopkins' first in the conference and moved McDaniel (14-2, 9-1) ahead of the Blue Jays (13-3, 8-1) in the CC standings.

Johns Hopkins trailed by just one point, 36-35, at halftime but shot 4 for 22 (.182) from the field and committed 15 turnovers in the second half to let McDaniel pull away. Junior Amanda Leese (Amherst, NH/Bishop Guertin) finished the game with a team-high 12 points off 6-for-7 shooting while the rest of the Blue Jays went just 10 for 50 from the field.

A Franz three-pointer opened the night's scoring and gave McDaniel the first lead but the Green Terror never led by more than seven points in a first half that saw seven ties and one Hopkins' lead. McDaniel had its largest lead of the half, 34-27, with 2:39 remaining before Johns Hopkins scored six straight points to come within one, 34-33, with just under a minute to play.

The Blue Jays entered the break trailing 36-35 and with a 30-14 rebounding advantage but had 15 turnovers to just eight by the Green Terror. Junior Katie Kimball (Garden City, NY/Garden City) kept the Jays in the game with a three-pointer, 3-for-3 free throw shooting and eight points while Leese and freshman Chevanie Smith (Plainfield, NJ/Plainfield) were sparks off the bench. Leese went 6 of 6 for 12 points and Smith recorded five points and tied a career-high with seven rebounds in the half.

McDaniel used the post play of Amy Watson and Kristy Costa and got five points from a Franz three and two free throws to quickly build its first double-digit lead, 47-37, in the first five minutes of the second half. Hopkins was in the bonus at 14:42 and converted six free throws in the next four minutes to cut the Green Terror to lead to six, 53-47, but never got closer.

Watson scored 10 of her 12 points in the second half as McDaniel capitalized on Blue Jay turnovers and missed shots to build a 17-point lead, 66-49, with 6:49 remaining. Brooke Weimer also added 12 points for the Terror while Katy Powell finished with 10.

Leese and Kimball (11 points) were the only Blue Jays to score in double figures as Hopkins finished with a .281 (16 for 57) shooting percentage. McDaniel shot 43 percent (26 for 61) from the field and 82 percent (22 for 27) from the foul line but was out-rebounded by Hopkins 51-33.

The all-time series record now stands at 31-24 in favor of McDaniel. The Green Terror won two of three matchups last season including a 59-57 win in the conference championship game. Neither team has swept a yearly series in the past four seasons, since Hopkins in 2000.

Johns Hopkins was picked to finish first and McDaniel second in the Centennial Conference preseason poll, while the national preseason rankings had McDaniel (D3hoops.com No. 9 and USA TODAY/ESPN/WBCA No. 15) ranked ahead of the Blue Jays (No. 24 and No. 23). The Green Terror dropped out of the national polls after its second loss of the season, 65-62 to Dickinson on Dec. 7. That loss also slid McDaniel behind Hopkins in the conference standings until tonight.

The Blue Jays defeated Dickinson in their first meeting, 67-51 in Baltimore, and are scheduled for a rematch this Saturday, January 22 at 1 p.m. in Carlisle, PA.

Johns Hopkins was ranked No. 23 in this week's USA TODAY/ESPN/WBCA Coaches' Poll and No. 25 in the D3hoops.com Top 25 while McDaniel received 38 votes, just 12 shy of Hopkins' 50 points, in the D3hoops.com poll.