After stumbling in their season opener, the Hopkins women’s basketball team has rattled off four straight wins, including a victory in their conference opener last Tuesday at Haverford.
The run started after the Blue Jays lost a close game on the road against York to open the season, 66-62.
In that game, Hopkins ran into foul trouble early and shot only 33 percent from the field, despite a strong effort from junior guard Stephanie Fong, who notched a career high 15 points. The foul trouble, however, limited the Jays’ rotation.
“We got in early foul trouble, which kept us from playing some players we needed to get in,” head coach Nancy Funk said.
The team bounced back, however, upsetting 16th-ranked Messiah in Hopkins’ home opener at Goldfarb Gym. Senior forward and co-captain Lyndsay Burton scored a game high 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including knocking down a rare three-point attempt.
Junior guard Chantel Mattiola, much more accustomed to long-range shooting, contributed 14 points, with all four of her field goals coming from beyond the arc.
Sophomore forward Alex Vassila collected nine points and seven rebounds, and senior co-captain Siobhan Callanan, who led the team in free throw shooting percentage last year, iced the game by knocking down four free throws in the final 25 seconds to give Hopkins a 61-58 win.
It marked the first time in school history that Hopkins defeated Messiah.
The Jays’ last three wins have all been decisive ones, with a margin of victory of over 15 points in each game.
The stretch began in the opening game of the annual Mike Durgala Memorial Tournament, a two-day event in which the Jays reached a number of milestones and received individual honors.
With just under five minutes left in the tournament’s first game, Burton, The Newsletter’s Athlete of the Week, became just the 13th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
Burton’s layup stretched the Jays’ lead to 19 points over visiting Wesley and added another impressive achievement to a sterling college career that, in some ways, had come full circle.
As a freshman in 2007, Burton scored her first points in her collegiate debut in the same gym against the same opponent.
This season, almost exactly three years later, she powered Hopkins over Wesley once again, leading both teams in scoring and rebounding with 16 points and 12 boards to collect her first double-double of the season.
Fong joined Burton in double figures with 14 points as Hopkins battled back from an early deficit to win comfortably over the Wolverines, 75-50.
When asked about her achievement, Burton downplayed it, choosing instead to highlight the team’s success.
“To be honest, I’d never really thought about it,” Burton said when asked about her reaction to scoring her 1,000th point. “I didn’t know that I was that close until that morning. It’s pretty cool, but my main focus is winning.”
The next day the Jays wrapped up the tournament with a blowout win over Salisbury, 100-46. Once again, Burton highlighted Hopkins’ offensive attack by racking up 25 points on 12-of-14 shooting in just 22 minutes on the court.
Burton’s performance earned her the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award and praise from her coach.
“She’s been a joy to coach,” Funk said. “It’s been great to watch her develop.”
Because of Hopkins’ comfortable lead throughout the game against Salisbury, Funk was able to put some younger players on the court in the second half and got valuable contributions from freshmen Fatu Conteh and Katie Brooks.
Conteh played strong defense and scored seven points, while Brooks finished second to Burton in Hopkins’ scoring output with 15 points in only 13 minutes on the court.
Vassila, the sophomore forward, had a strong game as well, collecting 15 points and 10 rebounds and was named to the all-tournament team.
With their out-of-conference tune-ups complete, the Jays went on the road to battle Haverford in their Centennial Conference opener and defeated the Fords, 50-34. Mattiola hit five three-pointers and had a career high 21 points to lead Hopkins.
The Jays also played strong defense, limiting Haverford to just 27 percent shooting from the field.
In the Lady Jays’ second conference game, Tuesday night at home against Washington College, Hopkins continued its dominant ways, taking down the Shorewomen 73-50 for their fifth consecutive victory.
After a slow start, the Jays took a comfortable 11-point lead just over 10 minutes into the first half. Soon enough though, Washington would command the offensive boards and notched the game at 33 apiece with just seconds to go in the first half.
Thanks to a three-pointer at the buzzer by Mattola, however, Hopkins would lead 36-33 going in the half with some needed momentum.
The second stanza was controlled by Hopkins, led by Burton, Callanan, and Mattola who all scored double-digits.
Burton lead the Jays in point and rebounds with 21 and eight, respectively. Callanan added 16 points while Mattola had 15.
As a team, Hopkins shot 51.9 percent from the field and 63.6 percent from three-point land, whereas the Shorewomen were held to just 17 points and 22.6 percent from the field in the second half.
Hopkins will play two more conference games this week, travelling to Gettysburg on Thursday, before hosting the Dickinson Red Devils on Saturday afternoon.
