BALTIMORE, MD – The Johns Hopkins women's basketball team hosted Marymount in its home-opener Tuesday night, shooting efficiently at all three levels en route to a 74-63 win. The Jays never trailed in the game and move to 2-1 on the season with the while the Saints drop to 1-2.
 
Elisabeth Peebles led the way in scoring for the third time this season, tallying a career-best 22 points on 4-10 shooting from the field, 3-8 from deep and an impressive 11-12 from the charity stripe. Finishing just behind the sophomore was Michaela O'Neil, who racked up 18 points — one shy of her career high — on just 12 shots, shooting a scorching 75% in the contest. Elsewhere it was Macie Feldman pacing the team in rebounds (8) and steals (2), while Kendall Dunham ended the night with a game-high five assists.
 
As a team Hopkins shot just under 43% from the field, 36% from deep and almost 80% from the free throw line, holding Marymount to just 35% shooting from the field and 13% from three-point territory.
 
It took just under two minutes to open up the scoring in Tuesday's contest, with a layup from O'Neil getting things going for the Jays. The Saints quickly leveled the score at two before Hopkins would tally the next eight points — its largest run of the game — to retake the lead for good. Marymount would chip into the deficit, but a jumper from Dunham with time winding down sent Hopkins into the first break up 12-7 in what would be the lowest scoring quarter for both teams.
 
The sides traded points to open the second, but with the score at 13-9 it was the Jays once again using their pace to score six unanswered in just over a minute, ending with a beautifully executed fastbreak leading to a Beth Corelli layup. The Saints settled into their offense after the run, getting as close as three, but a deep ball from Lauren Knudson ignited another 7-0 run that featured a 4-4 showing by Peebles from the free throw line. The run was ended by a Saints free throw, but a pair of buckets from O'Neil in the final minute put Hopkins ahead 30-19 heading into halftime.
 
O'Neil opened the second half with her fifth bucket of the evening to give the Jays their largest lead at 13 before Marymount used a 12-4 run to start its climb back. Peebles hit a big three to stop the bleeding, but jumpers started to fall for Marymount — the Saints shot 53% in the third compared to just 29% for the Jays — cutting the lead to three at 45-41 heading into the final quarter.
 
A 3-pointer from Marymount to start the fourth brought the Saints to within one — the closest they had been since the game was tied at two, but timely jumpers from Dunham, O'Neil and Peebles brought the lead right back up to seven, with back-to-back Peebles three-balls making it a 57-46 game. A 3-pointer from Feldman extended the Jays lead to 11 with just over two minutes to go for what appeared to be the dagger, but the Saints refused to let up. Hopkins' free throw shooting was put to the test over the final two minutes, but Hopkins was ready for the challenge, going 10-12 (including 8-9 from Peebles) to seal the victory 74-63.
 
Next up for the Jays is a rematch of the last two Centennial Conference Championship games, as the Jays host Gettysburg Tuesday, Nov 21. Tip-off for the conference-opener is at 6 p.m.