Lady Jays Basketball kicks off 2013 season

Starting the season in whirlwind fashion, the Lady Jays are already well underway into their 2012-2013 campaign in search of their first Centennial Conference championship. Despite their first bout of play, with an overall 2-3 result, Hopkins has been ranked 2nd in the conference in preseason polls behind powerhouse Haverford. The road to the championship will be paved by senior captains KaraLea Follmer, Sarah Higbee and the unstoppable force of Alex Vassila.

In their season opener on the 15th, the Blue Jays fell 55-44 to 15th ranked York. Hopkins fought for the lead in the beginning of the game, at one point earning a 9-7 lead over the Spartans, fueled by two fast break lay-ups from Junior Fatu Conteh. Unfortunately, the momentum stopped there as York called for a timeout and came back with a commanding 14-2 run. Down 14 points at half, Hopkins could not close the gap past that 11 point mark for the rest of the game. At one point, York led the Blue Jays 50-29. Attempting to play catch-up, Hopkins scraped for opportunities here and there but neither team was particularly accurate from the floor, with the Jays clocking in at a 34.6 percent field-goal percentage, and York at only 34.4 percent.

In the Durgaia Memorial Tournament over the 17th and 18th, Hopkins faced Mary Balwin (0-3) and Baruch College (3-0). Easily defeating Mary Baldwin on Saturday, the Jays advanced to the championship game with a comfortable 76-32 win. Driving the dominant performance was Alex Vassila and Ciara McCullagh, with 15 points each, with Sarah Higbee's 12 points also thrown into the mix. Similarly, McCullagh led the team with 16 rebounds with Vassila not far behind at 14.

Both teams were evenly matched for the championship duel with neither team advancing out of a seven point lead at any point during the game. Hopkins wound up on top of the first half, 31-28. After tip off to the second half, Hopkins expanded their lead to 37-30 with 17:05 left. However, the Bearcats found their footing and rallied to take the lead by five. As the clock ticked down, the game got heated with both teams giving up numerous free throws. With 1:36 left, Hopkins pulled by with a one point lead off of a pair of Vassila free throws. Baruch then gathered the ball and managed to sink two more sets of free throws to swing the game in their favor by three points with 43 seconds left on the clock. Forcing a two-point game after a Hopkins free throw, the Jays had possession in the final 10 seconds of play. However, after three frustratingly close attempts, the clock ran out for Hopkins with a final score of 62-60.

The Lady Jays faced their rival, Haverford, for the conference opener on the 20th. The Fords came out strong as expected, but Hopkins rallied by putting up an unanswered eight points to turn the game 30-27 at the close of the first half. The Jays' exceptional 57 percent field goal rate from the field in the first half was earned in part by Sophomore Stacy Fairey, who notched 8 points that half. Scrambling to switch up their strategy, Haverford switched to a zone defense which proved to stifle the Hopkins offense to 17 percent from the field. The Fords quickly gained momentum with a string of three-pointers that launched Haverford to a double-digit lead. The game ended in a 58-39 loss for the Jays.

In their most recent contest, Hopkins just fell short of the highlight reel win with Stacy Fairey's half court hail mary, losing 53-51 to Washington College. Down six points at the half, the Jays managed to recapture a lead, 38-37. However, an eight point run by the Shorewomen forced some urgency into the Jays play, as the clock wound down with Washington up by seven with less than two minutes to go. Three consecutive shots from the field from Vassila gave Hopkins hope, as another layup brought the Jays within one point. With three seconds left, the ball found the hands of Fairey, after a missed Washington free throw attempt. Fairey launched the half-court shot, but the ball bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded.