Jan. 4, 2014

Box Score

ATLANTA, GA - Emory seniors Savannah Morgan and Hannah Lilly combined for six three pointers and 40 total points as #10 Emory held on to bounce Johns Hopkins 72-67 Saturday evening. The Eagles were deadly from three-point range, finishing 8-19 from the beyond the arc and shot 54.5% in the first half alone. The Blue Jays fell victim to the relentless Emory defensive pressure committing 25 turnovers; the team's second highest total of the season.

Hopkins now falls to 8-3 on the year, while #10 Emory remains undefeated at 11-0. Junior forward Maggie Fruehan had a career-high 18 points for Hopkins on 6-8 shooting from the field in addition to finishing 6-6 from the charity stripe. Senior Alyssa Fleming had 11, while sophomore Dannielle Brown posted a career-best nine points.

Emory got off to a roaring start in the first half, jumping out to a 9-0 lead after Morgan tallied eight quick points on two threes and a jump shot. The Eagles only continued building their lead from there, taking advantage of Blue Jay turnovers by hitting shots on the other end. Emory held a 21-10 lead at the 12:03 mark, before a Fruehan layup stopped the 8-0 run and put her team within nine.

The ball security problems did not end there for the Jays in the first half, as JHU surrendered 17 turnovers in the first half. The Eagles led by as many as 17 in the opening half, after a Morgan layup made it 38-21 with 2:17 to play. Two free throws from Fruehan helped Hopkins cut the deficit before half, but the Blue Jays still trailed by 13 at intermission.

Hopkins found new life in the second half, as the team reduced its turnover total and the hot-shooting Eagles cooled off. With less than six minutes to play, things got interesting after Hopkins went on a 5-0 run sparked by a Fruehan layup and three free throws. With her team on its heels momentarily with only a seven point lead, Emory freshman Patricia Mook converted a layup to put the Eagles up 64-55.

The teams traded baskets again, but D. Brown gave Hopkins its smallest deficit since the game's opening minutes on an aggressive drive and layup with 2:07 left to play. JHU could not quite complete the comeback, as turnovers down the stretch and efficient free throw shooting from the Eagles sealed their fate.

Today's game was the closest Hopkins played a top ten nationally ranked opponent since 2003-04, when the Blue Jays fell to #1 Washington University 77-72. Hopkins has now completed non-conference play for the regular season, and will dive back into Centennial action in the coming weeks. First up is Haverford on January 8 at Goldfarb Gym with tipoff set for 6 pm.

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