ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. – The Johns Hopkins women's basketball team looked untouchable in their non-conference matchup against Averett University Saturday afternoon, eclipsing 100 points for the first time since 2010 in a 101-46 win over the Cougars. The victory moves the Blue Jays to 2-0 and drops Averett to 0-3 on the year.
Six Hopkins players got into double figures in the win, paced by 17-point outings by
Emily Collins and
Layla Henderson. The pair were joined by
Quinn ODonnell (12),
Beth Corelli (11),
Michaela O'Neil (11) and
Jadyn Murray (11), with Collins also securing her first double-double for the Blue Jays with 10 rebounds while Corelli and
Kendall Dunham shared the team lead in assists with four each.
Saturday's game was nearly over before it began, with Hopkins opening the night with a 25-0 run as part of a 31-4 first frame. O'Neil scored the first four points of the game before Murray and
Elisabeth Peebles combined for the next nine to jump out to a 13-0 lead. Collins, O'Neil and Murray struck again to balloon the lead to 20 just over halfway into the quarter, with Henderson scoring the next five before the Cougars finally ended the drought with a layup of their own 6:25 into the frame.
Murray struck again for her fourth bucket of the quarter — the senior scored all 11 of her points in just five minutes of play — before shots from
Macie Feldman and O'Neil ballooned the lead to 31-2. An Averett jumper ended a first quarter in which Hopkins shot a blistering 62% and saw themselves fly in front 31-4.
The second frame told more of the same story with the Blue Jays using buckets from O'Neil, Corelli and Murray paired with a
Greta Miller freebie as part of an 11-2 run that put Hopkins up 42-6. The sides traded blows over the next six minutes before the Blue Jays used the first career points for
Amanda Parker and a personal 5-0 Henderson run to close out the frame on a 7-0 burst and enter halftime up 60-17.
Saturday's third quarter belonged to ODonnell and
Lauren Knudson, who combined for four of Hopkins' five 3-pointers and 12 of its 22 points that built the lead to 54 following a Cougars layup on the final possession of the frame.
ODonnell stayed hot from deep to start the fourth, opening the quarter with her third triple of the night before Averett went on an 11-0 run to trim the lead back under 50. There to retake control, however, was Collins, who scored six of her 17 points as part of a 13-5 run that set up the Blue Jays at 98 points before a Corelli triple with just 32 seconds to go put Hopkins over the century mark for the first time in 14 years.
Next up for the Blue Jays is a game against Christopher Newport Sunday, Nov. 17 in a rematch of the NCAA Second Round matchup a season ago that saw Hopkins snap the longest home winning streak in Division III. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.
