Jan. 27, 2011

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - The Johns Hopkins women's basketball team overcame a poor-shooting first half to down visiting Franklin & Marshall, 57-49, in Centennial Conference action on Thursday night in Goldfarb Gym. The Blue Jays extend their winning streak to six and improve to 15-3 overall and 12-2 in conference play, while the Diplomats drop to 10-8 overall and 8-5 in conference play.

JHU began the game shooting ice-cold from the floor, as the Blue Jays managed just seven points over the first 14 minutes of the contest. Despite the struggles on the offensive end, Hopkins was able to keep the game within reach with some strong defensive stands of its own.

Trailing 19-12 at the 4:38 mark of the opening half, Hopkins closed out the half on a 10-4 run to cut the F&M lead to one at the intermission.

The Diplomats took a 23-22 advantage into the half after a lethargic first half that saw both sides combine for just 26.6 percent shooting from the floor.

The two teams exchanged leads three times in the opening stages of the second half, before Hopkins took the lead for good at 32-30 on a layup from junior Stephanie Fong.

The Blue Jays stretched their lead to 45-36 after holding F&M without a bucket for over six minutes in the middle of the second stanza. The Diplomats were able to cut the JHU advantage to 47-44 at the 5:11 mark and 50-46 with 2:16 remaining, but Hopkins responded with points on the other end each time and eventually secured the eight-point victory.

Fong led Hopkins with a career-high 17 points, while senior Lyndsay Burton notched nine points and a game-high 16 boards. Sophomore Alex Vassila also reached double-digit rebounds with 12 along with eight points, while freshman Fatu Conteh added 10 points in the win.

Senior Beth Holt recorded 15 points to lead the Diplomats, while junior Megan Pauley and sophomore Alexa Barbush added nine and eight points, respectively.