Nov. 27, 2012

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - Stacy Fairey's half-court prayer rimmed out at the buzzer Tuesday evening as the Johns Hopkins women's basketball team fell to Washington College, 53-51, in a late thriller in Goldfarb Gym.

The Blue Jays staged a furious comeback with two baseline steals in the final 10 seconds of play, but could not overcome the deficit presented by Washington College. It was the first ever win at Hopkins for the Shorewomen.

Freshman Ashley Espinosa led all scorers with 14 points for Washington College (4-0, 2-0 CC), while Erin Fitzgerald and Latisha Pledge each notched double-digit rebounds.

Hopkins (2-4, 0-2 CC) jumped out to an early 7-3 advantage with four points from Alex Vassila and three from Fatu Conteh in the first three minutes of play. The teams then traded baskets before the Shorewomen opened up an eight-point lead with 4:30 to play in the first half.

A pair of buckets by sophomore Maggie Fruehan in the final three minutes pulled the Blue Jays to within six points at the halftime break, 31-25.

Vassila struggled from the field for the better portion of the second half, but teammate Ciara McCullagh picked up the load by tallying six points and six rebounds in the frame. McCullagh's layup with 12:31 remaining in the second half gave the Blue Jays a 38-37 advantage.

The Shorewomen stormed back, however, knocking down eight consecutive unanswered points to take a 45-38 lead with 7:20 to play.

Trailing by seven points with less than 2:00 remaining, Hopkins found new life by feeding Vassila in the post. Three straight Vassila field goals cut the Washington advantage to three points, followed by a layup by Liz Tommasi which brought the Blue Jays within one point, 52-51.

Washington's Kelly Mitchell was fouled on the ensuing inbounds pass with three seconds remaining, and made her second free throw after missing the first. Trailing by two, Fairey heaved a half-court shot towards the basket, but the ball clanked off the front iron as time expired.

Vassila managed to lead Hopkins with 11 points and three blocks, while McCullagh had seven rebounds and Fairey had four steals. Vassila is three blocks away from tying the program's career blocks record (149) set by Katie Kimball in 2005-06.

Hopkins returns to action on Thursday with a conference matchup against Gettysburg at 6:00 pm in Gettysburg, PA.

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