Going into Saturday's game against Haverford, the Lady Jays had never lost against the Fords in the history of the program. A strong dose of junior forward Kristin Phillips and a 23-2 first-half run at Gooding Arena in Haverford, Penn. ensured that this was not be the year the streak would be broken. With the 67-45 win Hopkins moves to 10-10 overall and 8-6 in the Centennial Conference, dropping Haverford to a 3-18 overall record and a 0-15 mark in conference play.
Coming off a tough one-point loss against Franklin and Marshall last Thursday, Hopkins was determined not to drop an important game late in the season even against a Haverford team most everyone knew was not anywhere close to as talented.
"Every team in our conference is capable of winning games no matter what their record is," sophomore guard Steph Kielb said.
"We go into every game with the mindset that the score is 0-0 and we need to do our job and follow our game plan. We have the same mentality no matter who our opponent is."
Haverford got on the board first with a fast-break layup and managed to hold its 2-0 lead for over two minutes, but Phillips
snapped the cold streak with a three-pointer as she would do all game. After Haverford's Brittany Lattisaw pulled Haverford to within four points with 14:24 remaining in the first half, Phillips once again stepped up and drilled a three-pointer. Phillips's three would send Hopkins on a 23-2 run that would effectively put the game out of reach.
"We definitely stepped up our defense [during the run]," freshman forward Siobhan Callanan said. "They got the opening basket and after that our goal was to not allow them to get any more easy shots. We were able to create turnovers and we scored on those turnovers."
Haverford turned the ball over 27 times in the game and Hopkins capitalized by scoring 30 points off the sloppy play of the Fords. Hopkins played somewhat of a sloppy game as well, turning the ball over 21 times, but Haverford only scored 14 points off of those turnovers and 12 of those were in the second half after the game was pretty much out of reach.
"When we get the momentum going and get a few quick points, we can usually generate those runs really quickly, especially if we have the defense going," said Kielb, who led the team in minutes with 29 and added two points of her own in the contest.
The big win allowed Hopkins to play most of its team, as 14 girls saw floor time before the final buzzer sounded. In all, 11 Blue Jays got in on the scoring, and Phillips paced all scorers with her 16 points.
Freshman forward Lyndsay Burton poured in 14 of her own in as many minutes. Sophomore forward Monica Mitchell led the team in rebounds with six.
"Our whole team got in, which was huge," Kielb said. "When we play a game where everyone can play it's always a really big sense of accomplishment."
As the regular season begins to wind down, the Lady Jays have found themselves in a dogfight for the fifth and final playoff spot.
Upcoming games against Muhlenberg, Bryn Mawr and Washington are must wins for the Jays, who currently find themselves fighting for the fifth-place spot in the Centennial Conference. If the team can continue to put together 23-2 first half runs, however, nabbing the fifth spot should not be a problem.
"We need to play with the defensive intensity that we've had in our recent wins," Callanan said of the upcoming games.
"It is going to come down to who wants it more and who is willing to put it all on the line to win, and our team is ready to step up."
Hopkins has currently won five of its last six games to put the Centennial Conference playoffs within reach. The team will need to continue its winning ways if the women do not wish to repeat last year's sixth-place finish that left the team just out of the postseason picture.
"We are doing everything we can to get in the playoffs," Kielb said. "We are just scrapping to get into that last spot."
