BALTIMORE, MD – The No. 5/5 Johns Hopkins women's basketball team leaned on late-game poise Wednesday evening as freshman
Faith Williamson delivered the game's biggest shots to lift the Blue Jays past Swarthmore, 77-68, inside Goldfarb Gymnasium. With the win, Hopkins improves to 12-0 on the season and remains one of just nine unbeaten teams across Division III.
With 5:19 remaining in regulation, Swarthmore's Carly Murphy tied the game at 64-all, briefly swinging momentum to the Garnet. As Hopkins struggled to find its rhythm,
Emily Collins steadied the Blue Jays with a timely layup to reclaim a 66-64 advantage.
Williamson then took control. Showing no hesitation in a tense moment, the freshman drilled a three-pointer to push the lead to five, 69-64, with 4:26 to play. After a scoreless stretch of nearly two minutes, Murphy again made it a one-possession game with 2:36 remaining. On the ensuing possession, Williamson answered once more, burying another three to swing momentum firmly back to Hopkins.
The Blue Jays jumped out to an early 11-4 lead on a
Macie Feldman layup, but Swarthmore responded behind back-to-back three-pointers from Vianna Kanyamiheto-Watson to pull within one. The opening quarter remained tight before a
Beth Corelli three-pointer helped Hopkins carry a 24-20 edge into the second.
The teams traded leads early in the second quarter before a 9-0 Hopkins run over 3:40 opened a 35-27 advantage. The Blue Jays maintained control the rest of the half, capped by a
Stephanie Theodossakos mid-range jumper that sent Hopkins into the break with a 42-33 lead.
Swarthmore refused to fade, briefly taking a 51-50 lead in the third quarter. Williamson responded immediately with a layup, igniting a 9-0 Blue Jay run over 2:19 to push the lead back to 59-51.
After
Lauren Knudson opened the fourth with a three-pointer, the Garnet answered with an 8-0 run to cut the margin to one, 62-61. With the score again tied at 64 midway through the final frame, Hopkins closed the game on a decisive 13-6 run to secure its 12
th victory and extend the program's regular-season winning streak to 24 games, dating back to last January.
Collins led the Blue Jays with 14 points and 13 rebounds while shooting an efficient 7-of-10 from the floor, adding four assists and two steals. Williamson finished with 12 points, knocking down two of four attempts from beyond the arc.
Kendall Dunham and Feldman chipped in nine points apiece. Defensively,
Grace Soltes, Theodossakos, Feldman, Williamson and Collins each recorded two steals.
Johns Hopkins returns to action on Saturday, January 10, hosting conference foe Gettysburg—who received votes in the latest
D3Hoops.com poll—inside Goldfarb Gymnasium. Tip-off is slated for 1:00 p.m.
