The Basics
• Score: Johns Hopkins-54, Haverford-40
• Records: JHU (8-2, 5-1 Centennial) • HAV (7-5, 4-4 Centennial)
• Location: Baltimore, MD • Goldfarb Gymnasium
 
How it Happened

The Blue Jays outscored the Fords 37-27 in the second half to pull away with a fourth straight victory on Saturday afternoon in Haverford, PA. Diarra Oden led the offense with 17 points and eight rebounds while freshman Greta Miller chipped in with 12 points and eight boards. 

After the Fords cut the Blue Jay lead to 24-22 with just over three minutes to play in the third period, Hopkins used a 12-1 run to take a 36-23 lead with just under nine to play in the fourth quarter. Haverford cut it back down to six with 7:21 to play, but the Blue Jays continued to answer, ultimately pulling away with a 54-40 road victory. 

Defense was the name of the game early on as the first quarter saw just four points scored in the first five minutes and change and just sixteen points overall. Trailing 6-5, Emily Howie found Oden with great position in the post. Oden finished through contact and knocked down the free throw to give the Jays an 8-6 lead with less than a minute to go in the quarter. 

The Fords tied it late in the first, but Hopkins retook the lead at the 7:20 mark of the second with a Miller layup and an assist from Kristin Ralston. A few minutes later, Miller scored on back-to-back possessions, putting the Jays ahead 14-10 with 4:21 left in the half. Gia Flamini hit a triple for the Fords with 53 seconds remaining in the half, but Natalie Mann responded with a three of her own to give Hopkins a 17-13 halftime lead. 

The scoring began to pick up in the second half as Miller drilled a three to start the half off. After another layup, it was a quick 5-0 spurt for Miller who gave the Blue Jays their biggest lead so far at 22-13. Kayla Robinson scored the bucket to cut the deficit to two with 3:05 remaining for the Fords, but on the next possession, Oden pulled down an offensive board and then canned a three to push the lead back to five. Ralston hit a three with 1:01 remaining in the third and then scored on a wide open layup with 17 ticks left in the period and the Jays took a 32-23 advantage to the fourth. 

Erin Walsh and Mann hit buckets early in the fourth, extending the Hopkins lead up to 13 with 8:47 to play. Haverford scored the next seven as Robinson finished another layup to cut it down to 36-30 with 7:21 to go. Oden and Ralston answered back with buckets and quickly the Jays lead was back to 10 with just over six minutes remaining. Both teams continued to trade buckets before a Miller steal resulted in a layup for Oden to put Hopkins up by 11 with just 2:14 to go. Hopkins was forced to shoot free throws for the final 1:17, but continued to knock them down and came away with a 14-point victory. 
 
What it Means
• Hopkins improves to 35-12 all-time vs. the Fords. The Jays have won the last two meetings after dropping the two prior, including the last matchup at Gooding '84 Arena. 
 
• The Jays sit in a tie for second-place in the Centennial Conference with Tuesday's opponent, Swarthmore, at 5-1. 

• Hopkins now has a point differential of plus-99 in six Centennial Conference games, currently the best point differential in the conference. 
 
Inside the Box Score
•  Oden led the way with an efficient 17 points (5-9). The senior pulled down a season-high eight rebounds in the contest and has now scored 17 or more in six contests this year. 
  
• For the second contest in-a-row, Miller narrowly missed out on a double-double, scoring 12 points and pulling down eight rebounds. Miller now has five games scoring in double figures and five games with at least eight rebounds. 

• Playing in just her second game this season, Ralston scored a career-best nine points, knocking down her first three of the year in the process.
 
• The Blue Jay defense has now held their opponent below 40 percent shooting in nine of ten games in 2021-22 as Haverford shot just 32.6 percent. This is the seventh time this year that an opponent has shot under 35 percent against JHU. 
 
Up Next
• JHU will host Swarthmore on Tuesday evening. Both teams currently sit in a tie for second in the Centennial.