GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Johns Hopkins University knocked off its second nationally-ranked opponent this season by walking into Bream Gym and beating No. 21 Gettysburg College 59-52 in a Centennial Conference affair on Thursday night.
In a twist of irony, Johns Hopkins (6-1, 3-0 CC) led by the same amount at halftime of Thursday's contest – 11 points – as it did in the teams' second meeting last winter which was won by Gettysburg (4-2, 1-2 CC) by a 66-62 count. This time around, however, the Blue Jays held off the Bullets' charge and scored its second upset of a ranked foe this season. Johns Hopkins defeated then-No. 16 Messiah College 61-58 on Nov. 17.
The Orange and Blue's only lead came on the game's first bucket – a lay-up by senior Caitlin Moser (Wyomissing, Pa./Wyomissing) less than a minute in. Johns Hopkins answered right back as Chantel Mattiola knocked down the first of her four first-half three-pointers.
Gettysburg tied the game at eight-all on a lay-in by junior Sara Kinsley (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield) at 12:26, but the Blue Jays answered with a 9-0 run to push the advantage to nine at 17-8. The lead grew to 11 later in the period and the score stood at 32-21 at the break.
The hosts, who came back from a 34-23 disadvantage in last season's meeting in Baltimore, mounted a comeback early in the second stanza and pulled to 36-33 on another bucket by Moser. Johns Hopkins never faltered, using a 14-4 run to pick up its largest lead of the game at 50-37 with under eight minutes to play.
Gettysburg's defense stepped up its effort and held the visitors without a field goal for the final 8:21. The offense chipped away at the deficit and pulled to five (54-49) on a baseline jumper by Moser at 1:44. Following a 1-for-2 effort at the line by Siobhan Callanan, junior Julie McGrory (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) canned a pair of charity attempts to cut the score to 55-51 with 1:10 on the clock.
The Bullets never pulled closer with misses on its final four field-goal attempts, while Johns Hopkins went perfect in four attempts at the free throw line to seal the win.
Gettysburg shot only 36.5 percent from the field (19-of-52) and was out-rebounded by Johns Hopkins 32-29. The Blue Jays also out-scored the Bullets 24-16 in the paint.
McGrory finished with a game-high 15 points, while Moser tallied a dozen to go with five rebounds. Kinsley racked up 10 points, nine rebounds, and a trio of blocked shots. Freshman Cori Younghans (Succasunna, N.J./Roxbury) led the bench production with seven points.
Callanan and Mattiola took turns leading Johns Hopkins with the former netting 11 of her team-high 13 points in the second period and the latter posting all 12 of her tallies in the first. Alex Vassila recorded 11 points, seven rebounds, and a pair of blocks and Fatu Conteh added eight points for the victors.
Gettysburg plays its final game before Christmas next Wednesday, Dec. 8, at Franklin & Marshall College. The evening will feature men's and women's contests, with the women tipping off at 6 p.m.