Blue Jays Fly Past Garnet
Swarthmore, PA - Garnet sophomore center Karen Berk tallied her first double-double of the season, but a huge effort by the Johns Hopkins front court (32 points and 25 rebounds) as the Blue Jays escaped Swarthmore with a 60-57 Centennial Conference victory on Wednesday evening in Tarble Pavilion. Johns Hopkins improves its record to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the CC while the Garnet drop to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the Centennial.
The visiting Blue Jays jumped out to a 10-4 lead following a jumper by forward Amanda Leese at 16:24. Swarthmore fought back to tie the game at 12-12 as senior guard Jennifer Stevenson (right) sank a three-pointer.
The two teams battled back and forth through the first half, knotting the score 10 separate times. The Blue Jays got consecutive buckets from forward Andrea Dodrill and guard Haley Wojdowski to take a 33-30 lead into the intermission.
The Garnet came out strong in the second half, running off an 8-2 spurt to take a 38-35 lead following another Stevenson jumper with 15:25 remaining.
Johns Hopkins countered with an 11-2 run of their own, capped by a Caitlin Sloan-lay up at 9:31.
The Blue Jays kept a five- and six-point cushion for much of the remainder of the game. Swarthmore made one final push, cutting the lead to two points, 59-57 with fifty-one seconds remaining. A Julie Miller free throw for Hopkins, with nine seconds on the clock, forced the Garnet into a desperation three with time running out. The ball did not fall on this night, and Johns Hopkins skipped town with its fifth straight win over Swarthmore.
Stevenson led all scorers with 15 points and added seven rebounds, while Berk contributed 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Freshman wing Melissa Grigsby put home a career-high 10 points in 22 minutes of action.
Miller led a trio of Blue Jay forwards in scoring. The junior had 13 points and eight rebounds while Leese tallied 12 points and a team-high nine boards. Sophomore forward Andrea Dodrill contributed eight points and eight rebounds off the bench for Johns Hopkins.
The Garnet will travel north to Massachusetts for the annual Seven Sisters Tournament this weekend. Swarthmore takes on St. Joseph's (Ct.) in the opening round on Friday, Dec. 2 at 7:00 p.m. on the campus of Smith College. The Garnet have reached the championship game in each of the last two seasons, falling to Mt. Holyoke both times.