COLLEGEVILLE, PA – The Johns Hopkins women's basketball team used a 23-3 second-half run to turn a one-point deficit into a 19-point lead midway through the fourth quarter as the visting Blue Jays topped Ursinus, 62-41, on Saturday afternoon.  The Blue Jays end the regular season at 20-5 overall and 17-3 in the Centennial Conference, while the Bears finish at 9-16 overall and 6-14 in the Centennial.

With the win, the Blue Jays lock up the number one seed in the upcoming Centennial Conference Tournament.  The Blue Jays earn a bye into the tournament semifinals and will host the winner of the quarterfinal game between fourth-seeded Haverford and fifth-seeded Muhlenberg on Friday, February 24 (6 pm).
 
In Saturday's win over the Bears, the Blue Jays found themselves down a point at 30-29 with 3:52 remaining in the third quarter after Natalie Mehl's free throw capped a quick 5-2 spurt for UC.  From there, it was all Blue Jays.
 
Hopkins turned the 30-29 deficit into a 39-32 lead entering the fourth quarter as they outscored the Bears 10-2 in the final 3:14 of the period.  A Greta Miller jumper ignited the spree for the Blue Jays, who also got a traditional three-point play and a short jumper from Kendall Dunham and a three-pointer from Elisabeth Peebles down the stretch; only a Chinwe Irondi bucket after Peebles' triple prevented the quarter from ending 39-30.
 
Any hopes for an Ursinus comeback were dashed in the first 5:13 of the fourth quarter as the Blue Jays scored 13 of the first 14 points of the period to extend the lead to 52-33.  A Michaela O'Neil three-pointer got a 23-point outburst in the final quarter started for the Blue Jays, who would see graduate student Olivia Parisi score the final six points of the 13-1 quarter-opening run.

The Blue Jay defense held the Bears without a field goal in the fourth quarter until just 3:59 remained when Irondi converted in the paint.  By then, Johns Hopkins had built a 20-point lead (54-34) and the Bears would get no closer than 17 the rest of the way.
 
The teams had battled evenly through the first quarter (9-9) and halftime (21-21) with Ursinus leading by as many four in the first quarter and the Blue Jays grabbing a five-point lead in the second.  That trend held early in the third as neither team led by more than two through the first seven minutes of the third quarter until Dunham's three-point play gave Hopkins a 34-30 lead that quickly ballooned and was never seriously threatened in the final 10 minutes of the game.
 
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• Parisi hit 8-of-14 shots from the floor and scored a team-high 18 points and added five rebounds.
• Dunham added 10 points and four assists; the 10 points are a career high, while the four assists match her personal best.
• Miller pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds to fuel a 41-29 rebounding advantage for the Blue Jays.  JHU has won the rebounding battle in 15 straight games and 21 times in 25 games this season.
• Overall, the Blue Jays hit 27-of-60 (.450) shots form the floor; the .450 shooting percentage is the fourth-best of the season for the Blue Jays.
 
Inside the Box Score – Ursinus
• Irondi capped her remarkable season by scoring 27 of the Bears' 41 points.  She hit 11 of the Bears' 13 field goals in the game and had 13 of their 29 rebounds as well.
• Other than Irondi, Ursinus didn't have another player score more than five points and collectively the 10 other players who appeared in the game other than Irondi were a combined 2-of-21 from the field.
 
Other Notes of Interest
• The victory is the 99^th for Johns Hopkins head coach Katherine Bixby since she took over at Homewood in 2017.  The Blue Jays are now 99-34 under Bixby's guidance.
• This is the fifth time Johns Hopkins has earned the top seed in the Centennial Conference Tournament under the current tournament format.  JHU previously earned the number one seed in 2003, 2004, 2011 and 2012.
• The Blue Jays are 35-5 in Centennial Conference play in the last two seasons and have won 17 or more league games three times in Bixby's five seasons.