Box Score

WESTMINSTER, MD - The Johns Hopkins women's basketball team fell 56-46 Friday night in the Centennial Conference semifinals to the Muhlenberg Mules at the Gill Center on the campus of McDaniel College. The Jays struggled offensively in the last ten minutes of the game, getting outscored 15-5 down the stretch.

After a defensive struggle for the first 12 minutes of play, the two teams picked up the pace on the offensive end. A Beatriz Williams three sparked a 11-2 Hopkins run, that included two Stacy Fairey threes, giving the Jays a 18-14 lead with 6:10 left in the first half.

The Mules answered back with 5-0 run, before Maggie Fruehan stopped the bleeding with two made free throws. Laura Gregory answered for the Mules two possessions later with a made free throw, tying the game at 20 with 3:44 left.

The rest of the first half was even, as the teams traded baskets and took a 29-29 tie into halftime.

Coming out of the locker room the Mules jumped to a quick four point lead after two made free throws from Gregory and a fluid jumper from Leanna Tallamy two and a half minutes in. Katie Clark finally got the Jays on the board with a three to cut the deficit to one.

But the Mules answered back with a 7-0 run of their own, getting buckets from Hannah Rush, Nicole Pepe, and Christina Santone, before Gregory knocked in another free-bee.

Finally Liz Tommasi stopped the bleeding, knocking in a jumper after a 3:09 dry spell for the Jays. On the ensuing possession, Clark knocked in two more free throws, and Tommasi added one of her own, cutting the deficit to three, 40-37 with 12:40 left.

After Tallamy split a pair of free throws, Williams knocked in two of her own for the Jays before Fruehan knocked in a jumper, tying the game at 41 with 11:22 remaining.

That is where the good news ended for the Jays though, as the Mules went on a 15-5 run to end the game. In that run, the Mules used suffocating defense to grasp momentum and force the Jays to struggle scoring.

Williams led the Jays in the scoring column with 10 points and added eight rebounds to her line. Tommasi finished with nine while Ciara McCullagh finished with eight points and 10 rebounds inside.

The Mules were led by Tallamy who finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Her frontcourt running mates Gregory and Santone combined to add 22 points, 12 rebounds, five blocks and four steals.

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