Jan. 29, 2005

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - Junior Katie Kimball (Garden City, NY/Garden City) led all scorers with 17 points and senior Ashanna Randall (Media, PA/Penncrest) added 10 points and 13 rebounds in a 61-53 Johns Hopkins win over Muhlenberg at Goldfarb Gymnasium. The Blue Jays improved to 14-4 overall and 9-2 in the Centennial Conference while the Mules dropped to 8-9 and 4-6 with their sixth straight loss.

After losing 91-64 in its first meeting with Hopkins this year, Muhlenberg slowed down its distinctive up-tempo style - an approach that yielded a conference-best 83.8 points per game entering today's game. The Mules' 53 points were a season-low but the eight-point losing margin was a drastic improvement from the 27-point loss to the Blue Jays on January 13.

Hopkins opened with an 8-0 run but Stephanie Coluccini scored back-to-back jumpers in the lane to fuel Muhlenberg's 9-2 run that brought the Mules within one, 10-9 at 11:39. A three by Emily Wright tied the game for the first time, 16-16 with 7:28 remaining, before a Wright jumper gave Muhlenberg its first lead, 18-16 at 6:52.

Sophomore Whitney Davis (Scarsdale, NY/Scarsdale) came off the bench and sparked Hopkins with a driving layup and two free throws that regained the Blue Jay lead, 20-18. Kimball and Davis swished a three-pointer apiece to end the half with Hopkins leading 26-21.

Randall, who scored five of Hopkins' first 10 points, finished the half with nine points and 11 rebounds while Davis added seven points. The Blue Jays held a 32-23 rebounding advantage over Muhlenberg and out-shot the Mules 26 percent to 24 percent. Muhlenberg hit just 3 of 17 from three-point range.

In the second half, Gwen Doyle and Wright sunk deep threes and Lacie Smith scored on a move through the lane to give Muhlenberg a 29-28 lead at 15:27 but sophomore Haley Wojdowski (Mars, PA/Mars Area) responded with a three-pointer off the bench to put Hopkins back ahead for good.

The typical quick-to-shoot Mules committed two consecutive shot clock violations and Hopkins senior Alissa Burkholder (Allentown, PA/Salisbury) scored eight quick points off a three, a three-point play and a tip-in to spark a 16-5 run that resulted in a 44-34 lead, the first double-digit lead of the game, with 10:49 on the clock. Muhlenberg never got within more than five points of Johns Hopkins, which led by as many as 11 points at 3:56.

Kimball added nine rebounds, three steals and two assists to her game-high 17 points while Randall tallied four steals in addition to her double-double. Wright and Kristen Piscadlo led Muhlenberg with 12 and 10 points, and Smith pulled in 15 rebounds for the Mules, who finished just one board behind Hopkins, 47-46.

Johns Hopkins returns to action this Tuesday, Feb. 1 at home against Franklin and Marshall. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.