Baltimore, MD - The Blue Jays (2-1) fell at the hands of Messiah (4-0), 59-45 on Saturday afternoon.
Diarra Oden led the Blue Jays with 15 points and six steals, but a strong defensive performance from Messiah proved to be too much for Johns Hopkins.
Both teams got off to a quick start, trading buckets early in a high-tempo affair. After winning the opening tip, Messiah got their first bucket on a Leah Springer layup just seven seconds in. Oden answered right back on the other end, converting a three-point play off a feed from
Erin Walsh. Oden made two more layups, scoring the Blue Jays first seven points, while taking a 7-4 lead just over two minutes in. Megan Zimmerman scored back-to-back baskets for the Falcons, cutting the deficit to 9-8 before an Eleana Eckley layup gave Messiah a 10-9 lead. Oden scored her ninth point of the game on a layup with 5:37 to play in the first quarter, giving JHU an 11-10 lead, their last of the quarter. The scoring slowed down later in the first, as an
Elise Moore layup was the last bucket from the Blue Jays at the 4:35 mark, making it a 14-13 Messiah lead. Sidney Stutzman scored the Falcons final bucket with 2:10 to go, making it 16-13.
The Blue Jays cut the deficit to one point twice in the first three minutes of the second quarter. First, Moore scored her second field goal of the game, making it 16-15, then Oden made a layup at the 7:39 mark, making it 18-17. With 6:37 to go in the first half,
Maggie Wodicka nailed a triple, her first of the game, to give Johns Hopkins a 20-19 lead. Gracie Cryan stole the ball of
Emily Howie and took it in for a layup to regain the lead at 21-20. After a Walsh layup and a free-throw from Eckley, the game was tied at 22 with 4:25 remaining in the half. Hopkins was held scoreless from that point on, going nearly five minutes without a bucket for the second straight quarter. Zimmerman made a pair of field goals and the Falcons made three free-throws in the final three minutes to send the game into the break with a 29-22 lead.
Zimmerman led the Falcons in the first half with 12 points on a perfect 4-4 shooting while Oden had 11 for the Blue Jays, shooting 5-8. Both teams were strong defensively in the first half as Messiah shot just 39 percent and the Blue Jays shot 33.
Springer made the first two baskets of the second half, extending the lead to 33-22 before an Oden layup at the 8:44 mark. Cryan intercepted a pass from Moore, taking it in for a fastbreak layup to get the lead back to 11. Zimmerman proceeded to knock down a jumper, extending the Messiah lead to 13, the game's largest lead at that point. After a pair of Springer free-throws and another bucket from her at the 4:14 mark, Messiah jumped out to a 15-point lead.
The Blue Jays ripped off a 7-0 run, getting a baseline jumper from
Kenz Wilkinson, a three-pointer from
Lyndsey Hoyd and a layup from Hoyd to cut the lead to 41-33 with 2:45 remaining in the third. Brooke Breinich put an end to the run, knocking down a jumper with 2:32 to play in the third, extending the lead back to double figures. Jayneisha Davis scored back-to-back buckets in a 50-second span, putting Messiah on top by 14. Wodicka knocked down her second three of the game with 34 seconds remaining, but Springer scored right before the buzzer to put an end to any Blue Jay momentum.
Moore hit a triple 48 seconds into the fourth quarter, but every time Johns Hopkins looked to make a run, Messiah answered back. With 6:22 remaining, Howie took it the length of the floor, driving in for a layup to make it a nine-point game, but Davis calmly stepped into a deep triple just one minute later. Springer made a layup with 4:39 remaining, giving her 12 second-half points, extending the lead to 57-43. The teams traded buckets with under three minutes to play, but went scoreless for the final 2:27, giving Messiah the 59-45 road victory.
The stifling Messiah defense held the Blue Jays to 31 percent shooting and just 21 percent from beyond the arc. The Falcons shot 42 percent from the floor in the victory and made 14 free throws in the contest.
Hoyd had nine points for the Blue Jays while Moore added seven on 3-7 shooting. Howie snagged nine rebounds and had three steals in the defeat.
Springer finished with 14 points and 17 rebounds for the Falcons while Zimmerman avoided an injury scare and finished with 14, as well. Four Falcons reached double-figures in the win.
The Blue Jays will return to action on Wednesday evening, hitting the road for the first time this season as they travel to Fredericksburg, VA to take on Mary Washington at 6 p.m.
