Feb. 13, 2013

Box Score

LANCASTER, PA - Senior Alex Vassila capped off a milestone night with a storybook ending Wednesday, as she notched her 1,000th career point before igniting Johns Hopkins to a 54-49 comeback victory over Franklin & Marshall. Vassila scored a career-high 23 points in the effort, en route to becoming the 14th player in program history to join the 1,000-point club.

Vassila took over the game in the final three minutes, bringing down two offensive rebounds before finishing with an old-fashioned three point-play to cut the Franklin & Marshall (7-17, 4-15 CC) lead to one point, 47-46. After a pair of defensive rebounds and a block at the other end of the court, the senior then put home a lay-up to give the Blue Jays a 48-47 lead with 2:01 to play.

The rally continued as freshman Liz Tommasi stole the ensuing inbounds pass. Tommasi missed her lay-up attempt, but Vassila snatched the rebound and finished her own lay-up to give Hopkins a three point advantage, 50-47.

The Diplomats cut their deficit to one point, 50-49, on a jumper by Emma Lisle, but Vassila answered again with a lay-up. F&M's Kristina McCarthy missed a desperation jumper with 15 seconds left, and Stacy Fairey knocked down two shots at the free throw line to seal the victory for the visiting Jays, 54-49.

Vassila's outburst down the stretch brought much needed relief to the Blue Jays, who appeared well on their way to defeat midway through the second half. After taking a 29-28 lead into halftime, Hopkins endured a seven minute and 30 second dry spell in which it failed to make a field goal. The stretch allowed F&M to mount a 12-1 run and take a 45-36 lead.

Ciara McCullagh ended the drought with a lay-up at the 8:18 mark. Fairey and Tommasi then knocked down jumpers before handing the baton to Vassila in the final three minutes.

Standing at 987 points heading into the contest, Vassila wasted no time reaching the 1,000 point plateau. The forward quickly scored 12 points, and then tallied the milestone basket with 21 seconds left in the first half. Vassila also notched 15 rebounds and four blocks in the monster effort.

The Centennial Conference's leading scorer, Alexa Barbush, was held to just eight points in the game due to a fantastic effort on the defensive end by Fatu Conteh. Tomassi finished with nine points and three steals for the Jays.

Hopkins is guaranteed at least the fourth seed in the conference tournament due to Haverford's loss tonight. The Blue Jays will learn their ultimate postseason fate after Muhlenberg's contest on Saturday.

Johns Hopkins 1,000 Point Club:

1. Julie Anderson________ 1994-98_______ 1,944

2. Angie Arnold_________ 1994-98_______ 1,803

3. Lyndsay Burton_______ 2007-10_______ 1,396

4. Dawn Richards_______ 1981-85_______ 1,388

5. Leslie Ritter__________ 1996-00_______ 1,323

6. Sylke Knuppel________ 1989-93_______ 1,305

7. Juliane Rolapp________ 1987-91_______ 1,227

8. Amy Dodrill__________ 1991-95_______ 1,204

9. Julie Miller___________ 2003-06_______ 1,132

10. Marjahna Segers______ 1996-00_______ 1,121

11. Kristi Kantowski______ 1987-91_______ 1,060

12. Cindy Harper_________ 1984-88_______ 1,056

13T. Ashanna Randall______ 2001-05_______ 1,010

13T. Alex Vassila______ 2009-pres._______ 1,010

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