Baltimore, MD - Johns Hopkins women's basketball opened the 2019-20 season with an impressive 64-53 victory over York College on Friday night. Sophomore guard
Diarra Oden led the way for the Blue Jays, scoring a career-best 27 points on 9-20 shooting.
The Spartans jumped out to an early 6-2 lead just over two minutes into the contest, getting back-to-back buckets from Molly Day to put them up by four. Hopkins tied it at 6-6 at the 6:15 mark after an
Emily Howie steal led to a
Kenz Wilkinson bucket. At the 4:02 mark, York got a bucket from Kayla Ferris to take an 11-8 lead. Oden scored the next three points, tying the game on a layup before Howie knocked down a three-pointer to give Johns Hopkins a 14-11 lead with just over two minutes left in the quarter. Howie struck again from downtown in the final 30 seconds, giving the Blue Jays a 17-12 lead after one quarter of play.
The Blue Jays scored the first nine points of the second quarter, resulting in a 12-0 spurt before Kayla Ferris finally put an end to the run with 5:43 remaining in the half, drilling a three-pointer to make it 26-15. Oden scored five of the 12 points during the run, as the Blue Jays got four points from
Halie Egan during the five-minute stretch of play. A three-point field goal from Molly Day made the score 28-22, cutting the deficit to six with 3:48 remaining in the half. The Blue extended the lead to 11 just before the half, but a late foul on Howie sent Jayla Galbreath to the free-throw line for three attempts. Galbreath nailed all three and made it a 35-27 Hopkins lead heading into the half. Oden led the way with 12 first-half points while Howie added all 10 of her points in the first half. Day scored eight of her 10 points in the first half for the Spartans.
Egan hit two jumpers in the first four minutes of the second half, extending the Johns Hopkins lead to 41-29. A three-point field goal from Haley Luckabaugh and a layup from Savannah Wilson cut the deficit to single digits once again, 43-34. After an
Erin Walsh layup made it 47-34, the duo scored the next five points, as Luckabaugh hit another three and Wilson knocked down a pair of free throws to make it 47-39. Alana Bortner completed a three-point play off an assist from Day, cutting the lead to seven before Oden hit a pair of free throws to give Hopkins a nine-point advantage through three periods.
Leading 51-42, the Blue Jays scored the first seven points of the fourth-quarter, getting a three-pointer from
Lyndsey Hoyd and a layup plus two free throws from Oden. A jumper by Egan a few minutes later extended the Blue Jays lead to 18, their largest of the night at 62-44. The Spartans scored nine of the final 11 points, but time wasn't on their side and the Blue Jays were able to come away victorious in the season opener.
Johns Hopkins shot 35.3 percent from the field in the victory. On top of Oden's efforts, Egan had an outstanding debut, scoring 14 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Howie had 10 points, six rebounds and five assists in her first game as a Blue Jay.
The Spartans made just 28.6 percent of their shots in the season-opening loss. Luckabaugh was the leading scorer with 11, Day added 10 and Ferris had seven points and six blocks in the losing effort.
The Blue Jays welcome Susquehanna to town on Wednesday night, with tip-off set for 7 p.m.
