BALTIMORE, MD – Before Rodney Rogan arrived as the head coach of the women's basketball team at Johns Hopkins prior to last season, the Blue Jays hadn't advanced to NCAA's round of 16 since 1998.
 
Now, the Blue Jays haven't not advanced to the round of 16 since he arrived as the Blue Jays moved into the third round of the tournament – officially the Sectional Semifinals – for the second straight year by topping Carnegie Mellon, 68-58, in the round of 32 on Saturday night in Goldfarb Gym.
 
In the process, the Blue Jays (24-4) set a program record for the most wins in a two-year period (50), advance to the round of 16 in back-to-back years for the first time since 1997 and 1998 and the seniors on this year's team tied the program record for most wins in a four-year period (93).
 
In a game of runs, it was the Blue Jays who used a decisive third quarter to build a 12-point lead and then held off a Tartan rally early in the fourth before sealing the win at the free throw line.
 
After each team took turns dominating quarters in the first half, it was Johns Hopkins that grabbed control of the second half by outscoring the Tartans 25-10 in the third quarter to carry a 50-38 lead into the final period.  After trailing 28-25 at the half, the Blue Jays took the lead at 30-28 on a pair of Greta Miller free throws just 2:16 into the second half.  As it turned out, that was the closest the Tartans would be over the final 17:44.
 
After scoring 30 points in the first 22:16, the Blue Jays got hot over the 5:39 after Miller's free throws as they ignited a 20-6 run that gave Johns Hopkins a 48-34 lead with just 2:05 left in the third quarter.
 
Five different players scored during the run for Johns Hopkins, including senior Michaela O'Neil, who scored eight points, and Lauren Knudson, who added five to spark the spree.  During the run, the Blue Jays forced more Tartan turnovers (5) than they allowed field goals (3).
 
Carnegie Mellon (21-6) quickly had the 12-point deficit down to eight (50-42) early in the fourth quarter on back-to-back baskets from Catherine Or and Payton Baney, but neither team would score for the next three minutes before a corner three-pointer from Layla Henderson pushed the Blue Jay lead back to nine.
 
Twice in the final three minutes the Tartans made it a seven-point game, but they were never able to pull within two possessions and the Blue Jays hit 10-of-14 free throws down the stretch to seal a date with Scranton in next week's Sectional Semifinals.
 
The Blue Jays came out with arguably their best first quarter of the season as they sprinted to a 16-4 lead through 10 minutes.  After the teams traded baskets in the first 90 seconds to open the game, the Blue Jays used a 14-2 run over the final 7:39 of the period to grab the 12-point lead.
 
An layup sprung the spurt for Johns Hopkins, which got eight points from Macie Feldman to fuel the spree.  Feldman scored the Blue Jays' next six points after the O'Neil layup and Hopkins hit 7-of-13 shots on the offensive end while the Blue Jay defense harassed the Tartans into committing four turnovers and a 1-of-8 shooting effort to pull out to the double-figure lead.
 
As quickly as the Blue Jays built the big lead, it was gone as the Tartans used a stunning 20-2 run to open the second quarter to turn the 12-point deficit into a six-point lead at 24-18.  Carnegie Mellon opened the period with an Anisha Chintala three-pointer and that flipped the switch on the game as the Tartans hit eight of their first 11 shots from the floor, including all three from beyond the arc, to build the six-point cushion.  Chintala scored eight points during the run for the Tartans
 
Johns Hopkins would cut the six-point deficit in half by the break by scoring seven of the final 11 points of the second quarter with Feldman and Grace Soltes dropping triples during that time for the Blue Jays, who would quickly turn the 28-25 halftime deficit into a lead they would never surrender.
 
Feldman paced the Blue Jays with 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists, while O'Neil (12) and Miller (11) also scored in double figures for Johns Hopkins.  The Blue Jays turned 14 offensive rebounds into a 13-2 advantage in second-chance points and had an 18-6 margin in points off turnovers to fuel the victory.
 
Or had a game-high 21 points to go along with six rebounds and Baney added 10 points and five rebounds for the Tartans.
 
Next week's game against Scranton will mark the second consecutive year that the teams meet in the third round of the tournament and the fifth time overall the teams will meet in the NCAA Tournament.