ST. PETERSBURG, FL – Johns Hopkins closed the game on a 16-6 run to beat Denison, 61-53, Monday at the St. Pete Classic. Michaela O'Neil scored a game and season-high 19 points to lead the Blue Jays to their fifth straight win as they improve to 8-2.
 
Hopkins found itself down 47-45 with 7:27 to play after an Abby Cooch free throw capped a 12-4 Denison run. Emily Collins drained back-to-back buckets to put the Blue Jays ahead for good and spark that game-ending run. Six different players scored during the run, led by O'Neil with five points and Collins and Greta Miller with four apiece. The Big Red went 3-of-12 from the field and turned the ball over three times in the final seven minutes.
 
The first half was a back-and-forth affair and Denison led 26-23 with 2:08 to play in the second. Jadyn Murray ended the half with a bucket in the paint to kick-start an 11-0 run that bridged halftime. The Blue Jays got five buckets from five players as they grabbed a 34-26 lead on a Kendall Dunham triple at 7:13 in the third.
 
The Big Red answered with a 9-3 spurt to pull back within two less than four minutes later. Hopkins stemmed the tide with a pair of O'Neil layups as the Jays went up 41-35 with 2:55 to play in the third. Denison came right back with that 12-4 run, with six different players scoring, that spanned just over five minutes. Cooch went 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to punctuate the run and put the Big Red up 47-45. It would be all Hopkins over the final seven minutes as the Blue Jays closed strong for the win.
 
O'Neil and Miller were the only Blue Jays to finish in double figures, with 19 and 10, respectively. Miller also grabbed five rebounds to move into the top-10 in JHU history with 653 career boards. Macie Feldman totaled a game-high 10 rebounds, to eclipse the 400-mark, to go with nine points and three assists. Murray added nine points, four rebounds and a pair of steals.
 
Violet Mitchell was the only Big Red player in double figures, as she totaled 17 points. Cooch dished a game-high five assists to go along with five rebounds and a block. Abigail Westmeyer and Adelyn Moore led the team with eight rebounds each, while Westmeyer also chipped in seven points.
 
Hopkins returns to action on Wednesday, January 8 as the Blue Jays open Centennial Conference play at Swarthmore. Tip-off at Tarble Pavilion is slated for 6:00 pm.