The women's basketball team dominated the competition when they soundly defeated Ursinus 54-37 in an all-out battle on the court on Saturday, Feb. 2. The Blue Jays improved their record to 9-9 (7-5) and the victory extended their current winning streak to four.
The Hopkins squad was led by sophomore guard Steph Kielb, as she had a career-high 14 points in the game. The Ursinus Bears were 2007 Centennial Conference Champions, so this win was a very important one for the Jays, and it will no doubt help to fuel the ladies through the rest of the season.
Right from the beginning, Hopkins tried to make it clear that they were going to dominate the game, when they were up 4-0 with two nothing-but-nets and 18:55 left in the first half. However, Ursinus responded with a couple quickly-sunk shots at 16:51 to make it a more interesting 6-5 score.
The Jays quickly retaliated, though, when they extended their lead with a carefully orchestrated 12-4 run, making it 18-9 only seven minutes later. Junior forward Kristin Phillips sunk a three-pointer during that run, and Hopkins went on to score eight of the final 11 points in the half to head into the locker room with a 28-16 lead.
The Jays regrouped during half-time, rallied together and were determined to keep the point spread on their side. With a small adjustment to defense, they re-took the court fired up and ready to put any hope of a Bears comeback to rest. However, Ursinus was not ready to give up just yet.
The Lady Bears opened the second half blazing out of the gates on a 8-2 run which cut the Hopkins lead down to just six points with 14:58 left on the game clock. Doing what they do best, Hopkins re-grouped and quickly responded with a 16-5 run to make the score 46-29 with only about nine minutes left to play.
Freshman forward Lyndsay Burton put seven of those points up on the board while Kielb added five. Ursinus's Jenna Poligo made it 48-37 with only about four minutes left, but in the final two minutes of intense competition, Hopkins sealed their victory by going 3-for-4 in the last two minutes from the free-throw line.
Kielb's career-high 14 points really got the Jays fired up. In addition, she had two rebounds, three steals and only one turnover in the game. Her performance in the game against the Bears earned her a spot on the Centennial Conference Honor Roll this week.
Senior forward Andrea Dodrill didn't disappoint, either, when she added 13 points to the total and tied her career-high steals with six. Burton added ten points to the scoreboard, and Phillips led all players in the game with ten rebounds for five points and two blocks.
On the other side of the ball, the defensive playing came up huge as well. They forced 23 Bears turnovers and held Ursinus to just 37 points, as stated earlier. This marks the first time this year that the Jays have held an opponent to under 40 points.
Hopkins will put its winning streak on the line when they host the Franklin and Marshall Diplomats on Thursday at 7 p.m. The all-time series between the two schools is tied up at 27 games apiece, and when the two met earlier this season, Franklin and Marshall scratched and crawled its way to win from a 64-46 deficit. The Lady Jays are surely fired up for the match-up, and it will definitely be one that should not be missed.
Then, on Saturday, Feb. 9, Hopkins travels to Haverford for its one and only game against the Fords this season. The Lady Jays lead the all-time series between the two schools in an undefeated 18-0 record.
This does not mean that the Jays should take this record against Haverford lightly. Only six games remain on their schedule, and the Centennial Conference is extremely close.
Currently, Dickinson (10-2) leads the race for one of the five playoff spots, while Muhlenberg (10-3), Franklin and Marshall (8-3), Gettysburg (8-4) and Ursinus (8-4) currently occupy the other four spots. This leaves Hopkins and McDaniel (8-5) to finish off the conference. The Blue Jays have succeeded in three of the last six games against Conference rivals, and wins in all three would mean big things for their playoff race.
