CARLISLE, PA – The canvas that the third-ranked Johns Hopkins women's basketball teams has been working on throughout the 2025-26 regular season has been painted with many things. From a season-opening swipe of two wins against strong competition in Iowa, to strong non-conference wins against Christopher Newport, Trinity (CT), and Catholic and exhibition blowout of Division I Morgan State (that officially doesn't count in the team's record). There have been blowouts and nail biters, high-scoring affairs that the fans love, and defensive struggles that weren't for the faint of heart.
There's still more work to be done on the masterpiece the Blue Jays are working on, but one thing you won't find through Saturday's regular-season-ending 71-54 come-from-behind win at Dickinson is a loss.
For the first time in program history, the Blue Jays completed a regular season without a loss as they dug themselves out of an early 14-point deficit and sealed their historic moment by outscoring the Red Devils 22-8 in the final quarter to finish the regular season at 24-0.
This is also the first time in Centennial Conference history that a women's basketball team has run through the regular season unbeaten and the Jays are the first CC team to complete an unbeaten regular season in league play since Muhlenberg turned the trick in 2009.
"This is actually the first time I've thought about it (going unbeaten in the regular season)," head coach
Rodney Rogan noted before the paint had even dried on the 24
th addition to the aforementioned canvas. "I have so much appreciation and admiration for the women on our team for their consistency and effort throughout the season. This is a testament to the belief they have in each other; so much of what happens during a season or even a game is out of your control, but they have shown up and focused on what we can control and that has been the key to all of this."
For its part, Dickinson, which honored its three seniors prior to Saturday's game, did all it could to spoil the Blue Jays' run at perfection. The Red Devils led 6-0 early, then used a stunning 15-0 run that bridged the first and second quarters to grab a 21-7 lead less than three minutes into the second quarter. Emma Landes fueled the run with eight points and the Devils forced the Blue Jays into an 0-for-9 drought from the floor with three turnovers during the nearly six-minute long spurt.
"So much credit to Dickinson for how they came out," Rogan added. "They took the excitement of honoring their three seniors and came out strong on both ends of the floor. I wouldn't say we were rattled, but we needed to get back to doing what we do and we relied on our defense and that gave our team the confidence to handle that situation. We've been there before and we knew we just had to rely on the things we do well."
As quickly as the Dickinson lead ballooned to 14, the Blue Jays turned the game with that defensive pressure. Shortly after Lizzie McGrath's jumper gave the Devils the 14-point lead, senior
Kendall Dunham ignited a half-ending 21-5 run for the Blue Jays with a jumper of her own. Over the final 7:21 of the first half, Johns Hopkins would come up with five steals, limit the Devils to just 2-of-9 shooting from the floor and get seven points from freshman
Faith Williamson and six from
Emily Collins to held the Jays grab a 28-26 halftime lead.
A high-scoring third quarter solved nothing as the Blue Jays and Red Devils battled nearly evenly with Hopkins extending the lead from two to three (49-46) after three quarters. JHU hit 8-of-13 shots from the floor in the period and the Devils nearly matched that with an 8-of-16 showing at the other end.
After 95 regular season quarters, perfection would come down to 10 minutes; or just over eight as it would play out.
Dickinson pulled even at 51 on a traditional three-point play from Mia Chapman with 8:46 on the clock. From there, Johns Hopkins would close the game on a 20-3 run with Williamson leading the way with nine of her career-best 21 over the final 8:24. The Blue Jays would hit three triples and go 7-for-7 from the line during that time, but it was the defense that made the difference down the stretch. Dickinson hit just 1-of-12 highly-contested shots and was forced into five turnovers after Chapman's bucket.
Williamson's 21 points were a game high and while all nine players who saw action for the Jays scored, she was the only player to reach double figures. Collins added 11 points to go along with nine rebounds, while
Lauren Knudson (8)
Layla Henderson (7) and Dunham helped fuel a balanced supporting cast.
Chapman was one of four players who scored in double figures for the Red Devils as she had a team-high 14 points and added nine rebounds, while Lizzie McGrath (13), Landes (10) and Victoria Zerbe (10) also had 10 or more points in the loss.
With Williamson leading the way with her 21, the Blue Jays held a 35-17 advantage in bench scoring and the defense turned 19 Dickinson turnovers into 23 points.
Work on this rendition of Blue Jay artwork will continue on Friday, February 27 when the Blue Jays host a semifinal game in the Centennial Conference Tournament (time and opponent TBA).
At that point, the post-season brushes will come out as the Blue Jays continue to work on their masterpiece.
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