Jan. 12, 2012

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - The Johns Hopkins women's basketball team outscored the Garnet of Swarthmore College 39-17 in the second half en route to a 71-39 victory Thursday afternoon in Goldfarb Gym. The Blue Jays extended their winning streak to nine-straight games and are off to one of their best starts since the 2001-02 season.

The Blue Jays (12-1, 7-1) scored 14 unanswered points over 4:22 in the final minutes of the first half to pull away from the Garnet; that run included eight points from senior Chantel Mattiola. Swarthmore's Kayla Moritzky hit a layup with 24 seconds on the clock to cut the Blue Jay lead to 10, 32-22, going into the locker room.

Hopkins outscored the Garnet 16-9 over the first 9:39 of the second half to build a 17-point lead and runaway with the game at 48-31. Senior Alex Vassila converted her next three layup attempts to extend the lead to 23 points with 7:25 left to play. Swarthmore's leading scorer on the season Katie Lytle hit her first bucket from the floor at 6:57 to cut the lead back to 21 at 56-35 but it proved to be too little too late for the Garnet.

The Blue Jays used a 15-2 run over the next 5:36 their extend their advantage to 34 points, 71-37, with just 1:21 to play in regulation capped by a three-point bucket from freshman Steph Binder, her first of the season. Lytle hit a jumper with six ticks left on the clock and the Blue Jays held the final possession of the game for their ninth-straight win.

Vassila ended the day with 21 points, a new career high for the junior forward and led the team with seven rebounds. Mattiola finished the day with 13 points and six boards. The Blue Jays saw 11 players record a point with 30 points coming from their bench. Senior Stephanie Fong handed out seven of the Blue Jays 18 assists and collected six rebounds and one steal.

The Blue Jays shot 49.1 percent from the floor (27-for-55), their second highest shooting percentage of the season and held the Garnet to just 25% from the floor (15-for-60), their lowest of the year. Hopkins' defense held Lytle to just six points, tying her lowest point total of the season. Hopkins won the rebounding battle as well, 45-35.

The Blue Jays return to the court Saturday, January 14 when they travel to Haverford, PA to face the Fords to kick off a three-game road trip. Tipoff is set for 1 pm.