GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Gettysburg College defended its station as the top seed by taking down Johns Hopkins University 56-43 in the first semifinal of the Centennial Conference Women's Basketball Championship on Friday. The Bullets will meet Swarthmore College in the finale as the Garnet rallied past Muhlenberg College for a 62-56 victory inside Bream Gym.
Gettysburg (20-6) advances to the title game for the second time overall and first since 2008. The Bullets have never worn the Centennial Conference crown. Swarthmore (20-6) will be making its third finals appearance and first since finishing runner-up in 2002. The Garnet claimed the program's only title in 2001. The two will square off in the championship game on Saturday, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m. inside Bream Gym.
The Bullets reached the 20-win column for just the fourth time in school history, but it took a total team effort to get there against Johns Hopkins (16-11). After falling behind by five early in the game, the Blue Jays bounced back thanks to a strong rebounding effort in the first half to take an 18-12 lead following a jumper by Katie Clark at 1:16.
Gettysburg ran off the final five points with a three-pointer by freshman Jessica Porter (Narberth, Pa./Lower Merion) and a lay-up by Cori Younghans (Succasunna, N.J./Roxbury) to pull to 18-17 at the break.
Bolstered by a boisterous crowd, Gettysburg took control in the second half. The hosts held Johns Hopkins without a point for nearly seven minutes, while mounting an 8-0 run. A lay-up by Porter off a feed by junior Caroline Murphy (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) set the score at 27-21 with 12:22 left in the game.
The Blue Jays cut the lead to four twice in the next several minutes, but each time the Bullets answered with a three-pointer courtesy junior Katie Earley (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Trinity) and Porter. A jumper by Murphy gave Gettysburg a 37-28 lead with 6:18 remaining.
Johns Hopkins whittled the deficit down to four twice more, the final time following a four-point play by Jessica Brown that made it 42-38 with 2:51 left. That would be as close as the visitors would get as the Bullets went on another eight-point spurt. Younghans provided a big lift by picking off an offensive rebound and putting it back in the hoop, while Murphy took care of business at the free throw line by going 5-of-6 during the stretch.
The Blue Jays tossed in a final three-pointer with 47 seconds remaining, but the Bullets put the ball in the hands of their best foul shooters against the pressure defense. Murphy, junior Alyssa Isler (New Hope, Pa./New Hope-Solebury), and junior Rianna Doane (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) sealed the victory by each knocking down a pair of free throws.
Porter provided a big lift in her first postseason contest with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field. She also grabbed five rebounds and blocked two shots. Despite an off-night shooting from the field, Murphy was near-perfect at the charity stripe, going 9-for-10 en route to 15 points. She grabbed a team-high eight boards and dished out four assists. Isler Finished with 11 points, while sophomore Jenna Swope (Warminster, Pa./Archbishop Wood) finished with seven boards.
Stacy Fairey led Johns Hopkins with eight points. Alex Vassila logged eight points and 11 rebounds, while Tommasi turned in eight points.
Gettysburg, which ranks second in the nation in opponent field-goal percentage defense, held Johns Hopkins to 16-of-58 (27.6 percent) shooting from the field. The Bullets shot 37.8 percent from the floor (17-for-45) and went 19-for-24 (79.2 percent) from the free throw stripe. Despite getting out-rebounded in the first half, the hosts managed to win the rebounding battle 37-36.
In Friday's second semifinal, Swarthmore erased a late six-point deficit by scoring the final 12 points to beat Muhlenberg (17-9). The Garnet trailed 56-50 following an off-balance jumper from the baseline by Hannah Rush with 3:31 to play.
Katie Lytle started the rally by knocking down a three-pointer and Madeline Ross followed up with back-to-back lay-ups to regain the lead. Alita Zabrecky had a chance to put the Mules in front after getting fouled under the hoop, but she missed both free throw attempts and Lytle came down with the rebound with 19 seconds left.
Lytle gave her team some breathing room by knocking down two free throws as part of a 21-point performance. Kayla Moritzky added two more free throws following a backcourt violation by Muhlenberg with 12 seconds left and Elle Larsen polished of the win with one final free throw with two seconds to go.
The game featured 11 ties and nine lead changes overall. The lead for either team never got past four in the opening stanza with Muhlenberg grabbing a 33-31 advantage heading into the half following a jumper by Julie Kelly just before the horn.
Lytle finished with a double-double on the night with 21 points and 10 boards. Larsen also hit 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Ross posted 14 tallies.
Zabrecky led Muhlenberg with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Kate Clawson and Rush each finished with 10 points.
Gettysburg and Swarthmore split the regular-season series. The Garnet won inside Bream Gym 53-52 on Dec. 8 thanks to a pair of free throws by Lytle with five seconds left. The Bullets returned the favor inside Tarble Pavilion on Jan. 26 as Isler converted a lay-up with seven seconds to go to lift the team to a 55-54 victory.