The Basics
• Score: Johns Hopkins-63, Swarthmore-35
• Records: JHU (14-8, 11-6 Centennial) • SC (12-11, 9-9 CC)
• Location: Baltimore, MD • Goldfarb Gym
 
How it Happened
Sophomore Diarra Oden scored a career-high 29 points and the Johns Hopkins women's basketball team picked up a crucial 63-35 Centennial Conference victory over visiting Swarthmore Wednesday night in Goldfarb Gymnasium.
 
Leading by just four at 31-27 early in the third quarter, the Blue Jays (14-8, 11-6 CC) used a 16-3 spurt to take control and Swarthmore was never closer than 12 over the final 12 minutes of the game.  Oden scored 12 of the 16 points during the run with a pair of three-pointers bookending the spree, which ended with Blue Jays leading 47-30.
 
Johns Hopkins led 47-32 at the end of the third and turned up the defense in the final quarter as the Blue Jays held the Garnet to just three points in the final 10 minutes en route to the 28-point victory.  Swarthmore got a conventional three-point play from Abigail Pirron just under two minutes into the final quarter to pull within 47-35, but the Blue Jays didn't allow another point over the final 8:21 and ended the game on a 16-0 run.
 
The Blue Jays sprinted out to an eight-point lead at the end of the first quarter on the strength of a 13-0 run that turned a 9-6 deficit into a 19-9 lead late in the period.  Sophomore Erin Walsh scored seven of her nine first-half points during the spree and the Blue Jays eventually led 19-11 at the end of the quarter.

The eight-point lead swelled to 14 early in the second quarter (25-11) as the Blue Jays scored the first six points after the break with back-to-back layups by Oden and a fast-break bucket from junior Elise Moore accounting for the early six-point surge.
 
The Garnet trimmed the deficit six at 28-22 as they countered the Blue Jay run with an 11-3 spurt of their own that was jump-started by a Christina Holmgren baseline jumper and capped by a fast-break layup by Faith Nation.  A Colleen Anderson three-pointer – the only triple of the first half for either team – and a pair of layups helped fuel the surge.
 
Johns Hopkins would carry a 31-23 lead into the half; after the Garnet scored the first four points of the third quarter to pull within 31-27, it was Oden's three-pointer that ignited the deciding 16-3 run that put the game away.
 
What it Means
• Johns Hopkins maintains a one-game lead on Dickinson in the race for third place in the Centennial Conference as the Blue Jays are now 11-6 in league play.  The Red Devils, who were idle tonight, are 10-7.
• The Blue Jays are now 44-12 all-time against Swarthmore and the Blue Jays have won 11 of the last 12 meetings.
 
Inside the Box Score
•  Oden's 29 points mark her 10^th game of the year with 20+ points.
•  Moore and Walsh both had nine points and seven rebounds and freshman Emily Howie added eight points and four rebounds.
•  The Blue Jays held Swarthmore held the Garnet to just 24.5% shooting from the field (13-of-53) and the Garnet hit just 1-of-14 three-pointers.
•  This was the 10^th time Johns Hopkins has held the opposition to 50 points or less this season.
•  The 55 points Johns Hopkins has allowed in the last two games are the fewest in back-to-back games in school history.  The previous record of 58 points was set during the 1975-76 season.
 
Up Next
• Johns Hopkins is back in action on Saturday, February 15 when the Blue Jays make the short trip to Ursinus to take on the Bears in another Centennial Conference game.