BALTIMORE, MD - Senior Lyndsay Burton recorded a game-high 20 points and the Johns Hopkins women's basketball team took down visiting 16th-ranked Messiah, 61-58, on Wednesday night at Goldfarb Gym. The wins marks the first time in program history that the Blue Jays have defeated the Falcons. Prior to tonight's matchup Messiah held a 5-0 all-time series record against JHU. Hopkins evens its record at 1-1 on the year, while Messiah opens its season at 0-1.
Hopkins took a nine-point lead - its largest of the game - with just 2:49 remaining in the second half on a pair of free throws from junior Chantel Mattiola. Messiah cut the Blue Jay lead to five with 2:13 left on a layup by senior Michele Schleich. The two sides exchanged scoreless possessions and JHU had an opportunity to expand on its five-point lead but the Falcon defense stood strong and forced a Blue Jay shot clock violation with 37 seconds left.
Freshman Taylor Miller drained a three-pointer from the top left of the key eight seconds later to pull the Falcons within one possession of Hopkins. Trailing 57-55 with 29 seconds remaining and the shot clock turned off, Messiah was forced to foul seniorSiobhan Callanan. Callanan stepped up to the line and sank two huge free throws to push the Hopkins lead to four with 21 seconds remaining.
Sophomore Dori Gyori put up a three-pointer with nine seconds left that clanked off the rim and Callanan drilled two more free throws to secure the win for JHU. SophomoreKira Maier sank a long three-pointer at the buzzer for Messiah but it was too little, too late as Hopkins secured its first win of the season.
The Blue Jays maintained the lead for much of the first half, trailing for only 1:06 of the opening stanza. The JHU defense held Messiah to just 34.8% shooting in the opening 20 minutes and Hopkins carried a 28-24 advantage into the intermission.
After over two minutes of scoreless basketball to open the second half, Hopkins pushed its lead to seven on a free throw by junior Kat Fox and a Burton layup in the third minute of the half. The Falcons thrice pulled within two points in the second half, but Hopkins kept the lead for the entire final 20 minutes.
Burton paced Hopkins with 20 points - 13 of which came in the second half - and also grabbed six rebounds. Mattiola notched 14 points for the Blue Jays, while sophomore Alex Vassila put together her second straight well-rounded performance of the season with nine points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Callanan notched seven points and seven rebounds for JHU and freshman Fatu Conteh contributed seven points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals and pressured the Falcon guards into several mistakes and turnovers on the defensive side of the ball.
Gyori totaled a team-high 15 points, six rebounds, four steals and three blocks to lead Messiah, while Schleich chipped in 13 points and four rebounds in the loss.
Hopkins returns to the court this weekend for the Mike Durgala Memorial Tournament at Goldfarb Gym. The Blue Jays will host Wesley at 1 pm on Saturday, November 20, before facing off against Salisbury on Sunday, November 21 at 3 pm.