Lady Jays cruise through early tourney

While most Blue Jays were at home feasting on turkey all week, the Hopkins women's basketball team was hard at work, kicking off their 2011 winter season to the tune of a 4-1 start.

The week began last Saturday afternoon at home against local rival Hood College in the 2011 Michael Durgala Memorial Tournament. The Blue Jays took a decisive 71-35 semifinal round win from the Blazers.

Hopkins took advantage of an overwhelmed opponent to tally off scoring run after scoring run to build a 41-11 lead by the time the buzzer sounded for the end of the first half. By the game's end, 13 of 14 Hopkins players had recorded a point, led by 13 points from senior guard Chantel Mattiola and several assists from senior guard Stephanie Fong.

Defensively, the Blue Jays held Hood to a measly 23.6 percent shooting percentage from the field while forcing 21 turnovers with constant pressure on the Blazer ball-handlers.

Following their opening round romp, Hopkins took on Bridgewater College in a Sunday matinee to determine the winner of the Memorial Tournament. In stark contrast to the dominating performance from the day before, the Jays had to claw and scratch their way back from multiple deficits before earning their second straight Tournament championship.

After scoring the first bucket of the game off of a lay-up from Fong to go up, 2-0, Hopkins did not lead for the remainder of the first half. Time after time, Hopkins fought their way to a tie only to see the Eagles respond with a run of their own.

Both teams were evenly matched and at half time the scoreboard read, 21-16 in favor of Bridgewater. However, in the second half, the Blue Jays finally emerged as the superior team. After a lackluster 8-29 shooting performance in the first frame, Hopkins found their touch, going 14-31 while holding the Eagles to 8-23 from the field en route to a 47-42 win.

Mattiola followed her strong first game performance with a nine point effort in the second to earn MVP honors. Fong made the all-Tournament team with her 13 assists and two steals.

Hopkins had a quick turnaround from the Mike Durgala Memorial Tournament, as the team opened their Centennial Conference schedule versus Haverford on Tuesday. Prior to this meeting, Hopkins had gone 23-1 all-time against the Fords.

However, Haverford was not intimidated and quickly took control of the game. Despite an 8-2 lead to start, Hopkins fell behind 13-10 off of a strong Haverford rally and were never able to take another lead.

By half, the Blue Jays

were down a manageable 26-19, but Haverford came out running in the second and took a commanding 40-25 lead over the next five minutes. Despite 13 points from Mattiola, 11 from sophomore guard Fatu Conteh and seven rebounds from junior forward Alex Vassila, the Blue Jays took their first loss of the season, 54-42.

After a long Thanksgiving break to recharge their batteries, Hopkins had an opportunity to avenge their first Conference loss of the season with a matchup against conference rival Washington College this past Tuesday. While the first half was a back-and-forth battle, seeing three lead changes and no team leading by more than seven points, the second half was a different story. Already leading 32-25 to open the second, Hopkins used a 12-4 run over the first seven minutes to surge ahead, 44-29, a lead the Jays did not relinquish.

Behind a career high 11 points from sophomore guard Alyssa Fleming and another career high 12 points from junior forward KaraLea Follmer, Hopkins took advantage of their strong bench play to bring in the 67-57 win.

With a strong start to their 2011 winter, the Hopkins women's basketball team is building off of their 2010 NCAA Tournament appearance, the program's first since 2004.

Be sure to join the ride as head Coach Nancy Funk looks to make her 24th season at the helm her most memorable. Next up, the Jays look to climb the Centennial Conference standings with a home tilt versus Gettysburg College, Thursday at 7 p.m.