Jan. 26, 2006

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - Johns Hopkins senior forward Katie Kimball (Garden City, NY/Garden City) scored 22 points and added nine rebounds, four blocks, two assists and two steals to lead the Blue Jays to a 71-61 victory over visiting Dickinson in a key Centennial Conference women's basketball matchup at Goldfarb Gymnasium Thursday night. The win, coupled with Muhlenberg's loss at Franklin & Marshall, pushes the Blue Jays into sole possession of first place in the Centennial with an 11-1 league record.

The Blue Jays, who improved to 14-4 overall, now sit one game in front of the Mules, who slipped to 15-2 overall and 10-2 in the league with their 78-71 overtime loss at F&M. Dickinson slips to 11-5 overall and 8-3 in the Centennial and the Red Devils have now lost three of their last four.

Hopkins carried a 35-26 lead into the second half, but the Devils sliced the lead to 38-35 with a 9-3 run to open the half. Junior Ally Teatom (Darien, CT/Darien) bookended the run with a pair of jumpers and senior Patrice Johnson (Baltimore, MD/McDonogh) dropped in a three-pointer during the spree, but the Blue Jays answered with a 9-2 run of their own to go up 47-37 with just over 12 minutes remaining and the Devils were never closer than seven the rest of the way. Senior Katie O'Malley (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) ignited the run with a layup and added a three-pointer of her own to cap the run.

Hopkins stretched the lead to as many as 16 in the final 10 minutes as Kimball scored 13 of her game-high 22 in the second half and O'Malley scored all 11 of her points after intermission. Dickinson, which hit just 16-of-61 (.262) shots from the floor, stayed within striking distance by hitting 15-of-16 second-half free throws, but the Blue Jays never allowed it to become closer than a three-possession game in the final nine minutes and in winning for the seventh time in their last eight games.

The teams played evenly for the first nine minutes of the game with Dickinson taking a 14-12 lead on a three-pointer by Carly Onkotz (Boalsburg, PA/State College) with 11:01 remaining in the first half, but a jumper by freshman Jonay Foster (Chicago, IL/Oak Park River Forest) ignited a stunning 17-0 run for the Blue Jays that turned the 14-12 deficit into a 29-14 lead with just under five minutes remaining in the half. Kimball scored eight of her nine first-half points during the spree and freshman Caitlin Sloane (Baltimore, MD/St. Paul's) dropped in one of her three first-half three-pointers during the run as well. The Devils closed the half with a 12-6 run of their own to account for the 35-26 halftime score. Teatom jumpers started and ended the half-ending run for Dickinson.

Johns Hopkins will return to action on Tuesday, January 31 when the Blue Jays host Swarthmore at 7:00 pm.