Jan. 8, 2014

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - Sophomore Katie Clark finished with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists to help Hopkins hand visiting Haverford its first loss of the season, 65-48, Wednesday evening. The Blue Jays were relentless on the boards once again, finishing with a 49-31 rebounding advantage and a +8 margin on the offensive glass. After going up three at the end of the first half, Hopkins poured on 42 points in the second; their third largest total in any half this season. JHU moves to 9-3 on the season and 7-0 in the Centennial Conference, while Haverford suffers it's first loss of the season to fall to 8-1 and 4-1 in the conference.

Hopkins got off to a hot start in the second half, and continued on a 12-0 run which began at the end of the first to pull away from the Fords. Clark started things off for the Jays with a jumper to go up 25-20 with 18:14 remaining, and quickly collected a rebound after Haverford missed a three-pointer. Clark dished the ball to Fatu Conteh as she was streaking down the sideline, and the senior guard laid in easy bucket to put her team up seven. Two free throws from senior Alyssa Fleming and an offensive put-back from junior Maggie Fruehan gave Hopkins a 31-20 lead and forced a timeout from the struggling Fords.

Haverford was able to get a layup from senior Rachel Baskin on the ensuing possession and another from senior Nina Voith with 15:53 remaining to cut the Blue Jay lead to seven. That would be the closest the visitors would get for the rest of the night, as Hopkins rebuilt a comfortable lead and maintained its advantage throughout the game.

In the first, it was Haverford who took control early, as the Fords raced out to a 10-2 lead paced by a three ball from Voith and two layups from junior Shannon Smith. Hopkins battled back, but a three pointer from Haverford's Jacqulyne Pizzuto with 7:24 left in the half gave the Fords their largest lead of the night, 18-9.

The Blue Jays stopped the bleeding and began to turn things around shortly after with an 8-0 run over the next three minutes of play. Junior Stacy Fairey hit her first field goal of the night at the 6:43 minute mark, and fellow junior Haley Bush converted a layup after a Haverford turnover to cut the deficit to 13-18. A layup from Clark and free throws from freshman Janay Smith and junior Steph Binder continued the run and put Hopkins within one with 4:12 to play.

After the teams traded free throws, back-to-back layups from junior Ciara McCullagh and Bush gave Hopkins a 23-20 advantage heading into the locker room. Fairey finished with 11 points, her highest total since scoring 18 against Washington & Jefferson on November 17, while Conteh and Fruehan added eight a piece.

With the victory, Hopkins moves to 7-0 in the Centennial Conference for the first time since the 2005-06 season, when the Jays finished 15-3 in conference and 22-8 overall. Hopkins now enters a one-week hiatus from game action, and will resume play on the road when the team travels to Dickinson on January 16. The Jays will matchup with the Red Devils for the second time this season, and previously winning 72-47 on November 20 paced by a 17-point, five-assist performance from Clark.

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