Blue Jays Edge Past Swarthmore
BALTIMORE, Md. - Swarthmore sophomore guard Melissa Grigsby broke out of a recent shooting slump with 13 points and junior forward Karen Berk collected another double-double yet the hometown Johns Hopkins Blue Jays edged the Garnet 52-43 in Centennial Conference action at Goldfarb Gymnasium Wednesday night.
JHU (3-1 overall, 1-0 CC) was led by senior guard Haley Wojdowski with 14 points while classmate Julie Miller chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds.
Swarthmore (1-4 overall, 0-2 CC) opened up an early 6-2 lead after senior captain Jess Fuhr scored a lay-up at 13:44. The Blue Jays put together a 19-13 run over the next ten minutes to assume a 21-11 lead.
Wojdowski scored 11 first-half points on 4-of-6 shooting as the Blue Jays took a 26-18 lead into the intermission. The Garnet were led by All-Centennial forward Karen Berk with seven points and seven rebounds. Swarthmore senior forward Sam Graffeo reached a milestone in the first twenty minutes, putting in her first collegiate basket at 11:36.
The Garnet cut into the JHU lead at the start of the second half - Grigsby made two baskets to cut the Blue Jays lead to 28-22 at 17:56, forcing a Hopkins timeout. Grigsby canned a three-pointer 30 second later to bring the Garnet within three and Berk sank a jumper to make it 28-27 JHU.
Hopkins forward Anastasia Wynn sank a free throw at 10:17 and teammate Andrea Dodrill fed Britni Lonesome for an inside hoop as the Blue Jays increased their lead back to 39-33 at 9:15. Garnet senior Jess Fuhr responded for Swarthmore with a jumper of her own at 8:32, making the score 39-35 JHU. The Blue Jays ran off four points before Grigsby canned a jumper at 6:47 to bring the score to 43-37.
Johns Hopkins pushed the lead to ten, 47-37, with a Wojdowski lay-in at 2:55 and the Garnet came back down the floor and responded with another jumper by Fuhr. Swarthmore got within five points in the final minute as freshman forward Pamela Costello sank two free throws and converted a lay-up. Wynn put the game out of reach, knocking in a pair from the line and dropping in her own bucket in the lane as the Blue Jays notched its first Centennial victory of the young season.
The Blue Jays enjoyed a 51-38 advantage on the glass, including a team-high 11 boards by forward Andrea Dodrill off the bench.
Grigsby had struggled with her shot in the first three games, but came on strong this night with a 5-for-8 effort to notch a season-high 13 points. Berk added 11 points and a team-high 11 rebounds for her Centennial-leading fourth double-double of the season and the 18th of his career. She also registered four steals for the third consecutive game.
The Garnet women will take part in the annual Seven Sisters Tournament this weekend at Haverford College. Swarthmore, runners-up each of the last three seasons, will take on St. Joseph's (Ct.) on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. in first-round action.