ROCHESTER, NY – The Johns Hopkins women's basketball team rode a strong second half to a 67-42 win over Texas-Dallas in the consolation game of the Chuck Resler Tournament Saturday afternoon.
The teams traded buckets in the opening two minutes until a
Macie Feldman jumper sparked an 8-1 run that saw Hopkins go up 11-5 with 2:34 to play in the opening quarter. Texas-Dallas battled back, scoring the final six points of the quarter, including a Blythe Williams' layup with four ticks on the clock to make it an 11-11 game at the break.
Sophomore
Jadyn Murray opened the second with a layup, followed by an O'Neil layup and the Blue Jays' led 15-11. A pair of Comet free throws sliced the deficit in half at the 7:09-mark. O'Neil then sandwiched a pair of jumpers around a Murray layup and just like that the lead was eight.
McKenzie Howard hit a pair of free throws to halt the run, but Feldman responded with a three-pointer to stake Hopkins to a 24-15 lead with 4:26 to play in the half. Jordan Maxwell answered with a three to kick-start a quick 8-0 run to pull back within one just two and a half minutes later. Sophomore
Natalie Mann drained one from downtown and then senior
Kristin Ralston scored two in the paint and the Blue Jays took a 29-23 lead into the half.
Mann opened the third quarter with another three to push the lead nine just 14 seconds in. Kaylee Boykin hit one of two free throws for the Comets, but buckets from sophomore
Greta Miller and Feldman gave Hopkins a 36-24 lead. The lead see-sawed up and down over the next two minutes as the teams traded scores.
Cierra Trigg sparked a quick 5-0 spurt with a three-pointer as the Comets trimmed the deficit to nine with 1:45 to go in the quarter. Murray responded with back-to-back layups, igniting a 14-0 run that bridged the quarter break. O'Neil punctuated the run with a triple and the Blue Jays' lead was 23 with 4:53 on the clock. That would put the game out of reach of Texas-Dallas as JHU went on to win 67-42.
O'Neil led all scorers with a career-high 16 points, while also grabbing five rebounds. Feldman added 10 points and five boards, while Murray chipped in nine points and four rebounds. Diane Hurst and Williams led the Comets with eight points each.
Hopkins returns to action and opens Centennial Conference play one week from today. JHU will host Muhlenberg on Saturday, November 19 at 2:00 pm.
