The Basics
• Score: Johns Hopkins-46, Haverford-37
• Records: JHU (22-3) • Haverford (18-8)
• Location: Gettysburg, PA • Bream Gymnasium
• The Short Story: Second-seeded Johns Hopkins built a 10-point halftime lead and never let third-seeded Haverford get closer than six in the second half as the Blue Jays topped the Fords, 46-39, in the Centennial Conference Semifinals Friday night.
 
How it Happened
Hopkins stretched a one-point lead at the end of the first quarter to 10 points at the half (23-13) as the Blue Jays outscored the Fords 11-2 in the second period.  The second-quarter defensive effort held the Fords off the board for the first 6:33; by then, a 12-11 lead at the end of one had been pushed out to 17-11 on a free throw from Erin Walsh and back-to-back buckets by Diarra Oden and Jadyn Murray.

After the Fords got a layup from Caroline Anderson to slice the deficit to 17-13, the Blue Jays scored the final six points to grab the 23-13 halftime lead.  Murray and Kara Milliken bookended the half-ending spree with baskets inside.
 
Haverford managed to slice the 10-point halftime deficit to eight at the end of the third quarter by outscoring the Blue Jays 8-6.  The Blue Jays had the lead up to 11 at 28-17 after an Oden layup and free throw, but the Fords scored four of the last five points of the quarter to make it 29-21 entering the final quarter.
 
The Fords pulled with six at 35-29 and were within 41-35 as the clock ticked under three minutes, but the Blue Jays hit 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch and were up 46-37 before the Fords tacked on the last three points of the game in the final minute to account for the 46-39 final score.
 
The Blue Jays had grabbed the one-point lead (12-11) at the end of the first quarter on the hot shooting of sophomore guard Christine Corpuz, who scored eight of the Blue Jays' 12 first-quarter points.  After Murray and Oden scored the first four points for Johns Hopkins, Corpuz scored the final eight of the period for Hopkins with a pair of three pointers mixed in to fuel her late surge.
 
The Blue Jays built the 10-point halftime lead by holding the Fords to 1-of-14 shooting in the second quarter.  As it turned out, when Murray's layup midway through the period a gave Hopkins a 17-11 lead and the margin was never below that for the rest of the game.
 
What it Means
• The Blue Jays advance to the Centennial Conference Championship game for the first time since 2014 and the league-record 15^th time overall.  The Blue Jays are seeking their fifth Centennial title and first since 2003.
 
• Johns Hopkins' appearance in the tournament is its 24^th since the formation of the Centennial Conference in 1993-94. Only Muhlenberg (25) has made more appearances in the tournament than Johns Hopkins.
 
Inside the Box Score
• Corpuz led the Blue Jays with a game-high 15 and Oden added 10 points and six rebounds
 
• Walsh added eight points and five rebounds with six of her points coming in the fourth quarter.
 
• The Blue Jay defense limited Haverford to just 14-of-47 (.298) shooting from the field and Hopkins held a 40-31 rebounding advantage.
 
• Ally Landau scored 13 points and had eight rebounds and Anderson added 12 points in just 18 minutes.
 
Up Next
• Johns Hopkins will take on top-seeded Gettysburg on Saturday night at 6 pm in the Centennial Conference title game.  The Bullets topped fifth-seeded Washington College, 64-54, in the first semifinals