NEW YORK – The Johns Hopkins women's basketball team handed Rodney Rogan a victory in his first game as the Blue Jay head coach with a 69-56 victory over Washington University St. Louis Friday evening in the Scholars Classic at NYU.  The Blue Jays outscored the Bears 23-13 in the game-turning third quarter and 42-27 after halftime to pull away for Rogan's debut win.
 
The Blue Jays turned a 29-27 deficit at halftime into a 50-42 advantage entering the fourth quarter as they shot 9-of-18 (.500) from the floor while holding the Bears to just a 4-of-11 (.364) effort in the period.  A lightning-quick seven-point run to open the period gave the Blue Jays a 34-29 lead less than two minutes in; layups from Jaydn Murray, Michaela O'Neil and Greta Miller sparked the run that gave Hopkins a lead it would never relinquish.
 
Although they never regained the lead, the Bears battled back and were within 41-40 after a Lexy Harris layup with 2:20 on third quarter clock, but an Elisabeth Peebles three-pointer just nine seconds later ignited a 9-2 quarter-ending run to that pushed the lead to 50-42 at the end of three quarters.  Peebles would score all nine points during the run for the Blue Jays as she added a layup, another triple and a free throw to account for the nine points.
 
After the teams traded the baskets early in the fourth quarter, a Harris jumper trimmed the Blue Jay lead to 54-48, but Hopkins would score the next eight points to put the game away.  Peebles dropped her third three-pointer of the game during the run that extended the Blue Jay lead to 62-48 and WashU was never closer than 11 down the stretch.
 
Early in the game, the Blue Jays jumped out to an eight-point lead as they used a seven-point run to turn a 3-2 lead into a 10-2 advantage.  A Greta Miller three-pointer jump-started the run, which also included a Miller layup and a bucket from freshman Layla Henderson.  The Bears responded with a 10-4 spurt to close the first quarter to draw within 14-12.
 
A back-and-forth second quarter saw the Blue Jays bump the 14-12 advantage after the first quarter to 19-14 on a Michaela O'Neil jumper with just over seven minutes remaining in the first half.  The Bears answered with an Ameilia Rosin layup less than 30 seconds later to jump-start a 15-8 half-ending run that gave them the 29-27 lead at the break.  Five different players scored during the spree for the Bears, who got five points from Rosin to fuel the run.
 
Back-to-back layups from Murray and O'Neil in the first 45 seconds of the third quarter ignited the 7-0 run that gave the Blue Jays the lead for good.
 
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• Peebles punched up a career-high 17 points and tied her career-best with six rebounds to lead four players in double figures.
• O'Neil (15), Miller (12) and Macie Feldman (11) all recorded double-figure games for the Blue Jays.  Miller added 11 rebounds, while O'Neil and Feldman added six boards apiece.
• Johns Hopkins held a 48-39 advantage on the glass with 21 of the 48 coming on the offensive end.
 
Inside the Box Score – WashU
• Harris was on the only player to score in double figures for the Bears as she scored a game-high 18 points and added 10 rebounds in the loss.
• Including Harris's 18 points, WashU got 35 of its 56 points off the bench as none of the Bears' starters scored more than seven points on the night.
 
Other Notes of Interest
• Rogan is the first Johns Hopkins women's basketball coach to pick up a win in their Blue Jay coaching debut.
• The Blue Jays have won two straight against the Bears; the previous win, a 77-72 decision on November 30, 2003, came when WashU was ranked #1 in the nation.
 
Up Next
• Johns Hopkins will make a quick return to the court on Saturday, November 11 as the Blue Jays take on host NYU on the second day of the Scholars Classic.  The Violets are ranked second in the D3hoops.com Preseason Poll and opened the tournament with an 88-55 win over MIT.