BALTIMORE, MD – The Johns Hopkins women's basketball team used a 15-2 run to end the first half to grab a 39-22 halftime lead and the #15/#16 Blue Jays never let visiting Dickinson get closer than 13 in the second half of what became a 68-45 Senior Day victory Saturday afternoon in Goldfarb Gymnasium.
 
With the win, the Blue Jays finish the regular season at 21-3 overall and 13-1 in the Centennial Conference.  The Blue Jays also locked up the top seed in the upcoming Centennial Conference Tournament with today's victory.  Johns Hopkins had already earned a bye into the Centennial Semifinals and will host a semifinal game on Friday, February 28.  The Blue Jays will play the lowest remaining seed in the tournament after Tuesday's opening round games.
 
The Red Devils had trailed by as many as nine early in the second quarter, but a Victoria Zerbe layup and an Ella Smith offensive rebound and putback trimmed the deficit to 24-20 with 3:58 remaining before halftime.
 
Just 10 seconds after Smith's bucket, Johns Hopkins got a layup from senior Jadyn Murray to jump-start the game-turning run for the Blue Jays.  Five different Blue Jays scored during the 15-2 spurt with sophomore Layla Henderson leading the way with six of her eight points on the day coming during the run.  The Blue Jays hit 7-of-10 shots from the floor and held Dickinson to just 1-of-5 shooting while forcing four turnovers over the final four minutes of the half.
 
Another Zerbe layup and a Jenna Weinstein jumper opened the second-half scoring to pull the Devils within 13 (39-26), but back-to-back Greta Miller baskets for the Blue Jays quickly pushed the lead back to 17 and the teams would trade baskets over the final six minutes of a third quarter that ended with the Blue Jays leading 49-32.
 
Any hopes of a Dickinson comeback were dashed in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter as Johns Hopkins scored 12 of the first 14 points of the period to extend the lead to 27 (61-34).  Junior Macie Feldman scored five points and senior Michaela O'Neil added three to fuel the run; Johns Hopkins hit 5-of-6 shots from the floor and held the Devils to just a Clair Marion basket over the three-minute run.
 
Emily Collins paced the Blue Jays with 12 points and seven rebounds and O'Neil added 10 points and six rebounds for Johns Hopkins, which got eight or more points from five players, outrebounded the Red Devils by nine (42-33) and turned 20 Dickinson turnovers into 21 points in the victory.
 
Marion entered the game averaging a team-high 13.5 points, but was held to just four on 2-of-9 shooting on the day.  Zerbe was the only Dickinson player to reach double figures as she had 10 points, while Mia Chapman added six.