SWARTHMORE, PA – The Johns Hopkins women's basketball team hit the road for a Centennial Conference matchup with Swarthmore Thursday night, topping the Garnet 78-65 to extend its win streak to 11 games and remain unbeaten in conference play.
 
Elisabeth Peebles was the driving force of the Blue Jays' (12-1, 8-0 Centennial) offense in the double-digit victory, finishing with a game-high and career-best 24 points. The sophomore picked up right where she left off after missing Hopkins' last game, shooting 9-14 from the field including an impressive 6-9 from deep, with the six 3-pointers also representing a career-high.
 
Three other Blue Jays got into double figures in Michaela O'Neil (17), Jadyn Murray (12) and Macie Feldman (10), with Greta Miller's nine nearly completing the quintet. Miller paced the way in rebounds with nine — including four on the offensive glass — while Feldman led the way once again in assists and steals as the starting point guard, with a career-best six and two respectively.
 
Points came early and often in the first quarter of Thursday's contest, but neither side was able to pull away as the score remained with four in a period that ended with the Garnet (6-7, 4-4 Centennial) holding a narrow 18-17 lead. Swarthmore scored the first points on a layup before Peebles sank her first deep ball of the evening to take a 3-2 lead.
 
The Garnet used an effective midrange game to jump back in front, growing their lead to as much as four with just under three minutes to go in the frame at 16-12. There to cut it back to one, however, was Peebles once again with another 3-pointer, with the sides traded buckets following the sophomore's triple before being held scoreless over the final 1:57, sending Hopkins into the break down one.
 
The Blue Jays briefly retook the lead after Murray opened the second quarter with a layup, but it was Swarthmore getting it right back to three after a 4-0 response. Still unable to create any separation, Peebles' third 3-pointer of the night kickstarted a 5-0 run that would finally give Hopkins a lead they would not relinquish. Up three after another Murray bucket, a late steal from Zoe Soule that led to a Feldman layup gave the Blue Jays their largest lead at 35-30 heading into halftime.
 
Hopkins locked down defensively to start the second half, forcing turnovers on three of the Garnet's first four possessions to ignite a 6-0 run with buckets from O'Neil and Murray. Swarthmore settled into the half after a Murray layup made it 45-35, going on their own 5-0 run and holding the Blue Jays without a bucket for over three minutes to cut the lead back to five. Hopkins rode the hot hands of Murray and O'Neil, however, to get the lead back to 13 — the duo combined to score 17 of the Jays' 20 points in the frame — before the Garnet scored the final three points to make it 55-45 with 10 minutes to go.
 
A 1-2 trip at the line from Swarthmore to start the quarter cut it to single digits, but an immediate 8-3 run that included two Peebles triples extended it back to 14 at 63-49. A 5-2 response from the Garnet trimmed slightly into the lead before a pair of Milliken free throws — the graduate student was one of two bench players to score for Hopkins in the win — and Peebles' career-best sixth 3-pointer gave them their largest lead at 16. Swarthmore was never able to get it back to single digits, with a made layup as the clock wound down securing the 78-65 win.
 
Next up for the Blue Jays is a two-game homestand with their first match set for Saturday, Jan. 13 against Haverford. Tip-off for the Centennial Conference showdown is at 1 p.m.