This past week, the Lady Jays wrapped up their regular season against Centennial Conference opponent Franklin & Marshall. On Feb. 13 the team traveled to Lancaster, Pa. to face an opponent who had beaten them earlier in the season at home. However, this did not deter them from ending their season on a high note. The squad came out of the gates in control of the game and entered half time with a one-point lead over the Diplomats.
The second half brought about another side of the Lady Jays. The inability to score a field goal allowed Franklin & Marshall to go on a 12-1 run, giving them a comfortable nine point lead about half way through the second half. After a few baskets from sophomore guard Stacy Fairey and freshman guard Liz Tomassi, senior Alex Vassila carried her team to victory on a night when she reached another career milestone by scoring her 1,000th point in a Hopkins uniform. With a few lay ups, a foul shot and some defensive help from her teammates, Vassila put the team in the lead and closed the door on the Centennial Conference opponent.
This is the second important career milestone reached by Alex Vassila in the second half of the season. When asked about accomplishing such a feat, she humbly answered, “I feel like the accomplishment is definitely something that was a goal of mine, but looking back, its the program that I am so lucky to have been a part of. After being a part of it for so long, its become my family. The girls are amazing and I am just so thankful for being able to be part of it. 1,000 points is pretty cool, but its just a number. Our successful years as a team are what I am really thankful for.”
As for what she plans to do differently to lead her team in the playoffs, she says,
“Nothing. I say the same thing before every game, I want to do everything I can to help my team win.”
The 54-49 win against Franklin & Marshall, combined with Haverford losing, ensured that the Lady Jays would be guaranteed a seed no lower then the fourth seed for the Centennial Conference tournament. The team has been working hard to prepare to make some noise in the tournament.
“Preparing for playoffs is a whole different animal," Vassila said. "Our coach told us on our first post-season practice that the post-season is a new season. Nothing that happened before matters. There are no 'mistake' games to be had, because a loss will end your season. So mentally, practices are very different. But we are just working on things we need to work on and improve on, but other than that, we are going to keep fighting.”
The Lady Jays are all ecstatic over the outcome of what looked to be a disaster season after the first half of conference play. They managed to turn their season around with hard work and team unity. In a season plagued with adversity, it is quite the accomplishment to have finished the regular season as highly ranked in the Centennial Conference as they did. When looking back on how far the team has come, Alex Vassila says that she is “so proud of every single person on my team for never giving up. We could have hung our heads and accepted that we were going to stay at the bottom of the conference, but we didn’t. We fought back and fought hard. This season is almost better than previous ones because I feel like we really came together as a team on and off the court.”
She is especially proud that such a storybook season happened her senior year.
Hopkins faces Haverford February 20 at Goldfarb Gym for the first game of the Centennial Conference tournament.
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