LANCASTER, PA – The Johns Hopkins women's basketball team sprinted out to 15-5 lead after one quarter, built the lead to as many as 14 in the second and never trailed in a 65-44 win at Franklin & Marshall Saturday afternoon.  The win is the 11^th straight for the Blue Jays, who improve to 20-3 overall and 12-1 in the Centennial Conference with the victory. The Diplomats slip to 15-8 overall and 6-7 in the Centennial and had a modest two-game winning streak snapped.
 
As they had three nights earlier in a win at McDaniel, the Blue Jays jumped out early in this one as they used a 9-0 run to end the first quarter to quickly turn what had been a 6-5 lead midway through the period into the 15-5 advantage after 10 minutes.  A Molly Flanagan layup pulled the Diplomats to within the point at 6-5, but a Kendall Dunham layup 24 seconds later sprung the Blue Jays on the quarter-ending nine-point run.  Michaela O'Neil scored five of Hopkins' nine points during the spree and the Blue Jay defense held the Diplomats scoreless for the final 5:10 of the period.
 
Johns Hopkins threatened to run away with the game early in the second quarter as the 10-point lead was 14 (20-6) after a Greta Miller layup just 2:38 into the period, but the Diplomats answered with their best three minutes of the game to pull within three at 23-20.  A Kennedy Wilburn layup and a Lizzie Neville three-pointer jump-started a 14-3 run that took just 2:52 and also included a pair of triples from Ally Trebelev.
 
An O'Neil jumper with just over four minutes remaining in the first half halted the Diplomat run and ignited a half-ending 10-1 spurt for the Blue Jays that saw five different players score.  Again, it was the Blue Jay defense keying things as the Diplomats went 0-for-5 from the floor and had two turnovers in the final four minutes of the half as Hopkins carried a 33-21 lead into the break.
 
Neither team scored for the first 4:43 of the second half before O'Neil knocked down a three-pointer to break the ice.  From there, it was sophomore Layla Henderson taking over for the Blue Jays as she scored seven of Hopkins' remaining eight points in the quarter. The Diplomats would finally dent the scoring column on a Wilburn bucket with 4:24 on the third-quarter clock, but that would be one of just three baskets in the period for F&M, which would trail 44-27 entering the final period.
 
After combining for just 17 points in the third quarter, the Blue Jays and Diplomats got going in the fourth, but trading baskets wasn't a recipe for trimming the deficit for F&M.  The Blue Jays would push the lead as high as 27 (63-36) on a Macie Feldman jumper with just over four minutes remaining before coasting to the 21-point victory, Hopkins' 23^rd straight in the series.
 
O'Neil paced the Blue Jays with 19 points and three rebounds, while Henderson added 12 points and seven rebounds.  Miller and Jadyn Murry chipped with eight points apiece and combined for 13 rebounds. The Blue Jays outrebounded F&M 55-36, held a 17-4 advantage in second-chance points and led for all but the first 36 seconds of the game before a Murray layup gave them a lead they would never relinquish.

F&M got 12 points and six rebounds from Wilburn and Neville added 11 points, but the Diplomats hit just 17-of-61 (.279) shots from the floor and couldn't overcome first and third-quarter offensive outputs of five and six points, respectively.
 
Johns Hopkins will return to action on Saturday, February 22 when the Blue Jays welcome Dickinson to Goldfarb Gym (4 pm).  The Blue Jays will honor their seniors prior to the game.