The Hopkins women’s basketball team entered Saturday’s home contest against the Washington College Shorewomen with a guaranteed spot in the Centennial Conference tournament.
However, the game anything but pointless; a win against the Shorewomen and a Haverford loss would bump the Lady Jays to the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament, eliminating the possibility of a play-in game.
Saturday was also Senior Day, an opportunity for the team and fans to honor seven upperclassmen who have each played a big role in the team’s success over the last four years.
Head Coach Nancy Funk paid tribute with an all-senior starting line-up including Steph Binder, Stacy Fairey, Jessica Brown, Maggie Fruehan and Ciara McCullagh. Fellow seniors Haley Bush and Alyssa Fleming would enter later in the first half.
“I was lucky enough to get an extra year to play here and it was definitely worth it, but it made Senior Day a little weirder in a way,” Fleming said. “It’s hard to believe five years have gone by so quickly, but I am so thankful that the team let me stick around for one more. There’s nothing like being a part of a team, and I know I’ll definitely miss that.”
The first half was a back-and-forth battle between the Jays and Shorewomen. There were six first half ties until junior guard Katie Clark netted a shot from downtown. The three-pointer put the home team up 23-20.
After a Brown free throw and quick Shorewomen bucket, McCullagh took control in the paint. The senior post player recorded a quick five points that boosted the Jays’ lead to seven.
The Shorewomen quickly retaliated, cutting the Hopkins lead to 29-28. The Lady Jays would regain some of their lead heading into the half off of a pair of free throws from junior guard Liz Tommasi and a Clark put back.
After trading some early buckets in the second half, the Jays would use a 12-0 run to boost the lead to 18 points with 8:02 play. Hopkins would never look back, ending the regular season with a 66-55 victory.
Clark would lead the team in scoring on the day with 16 points, while both McCallagh and junior Beatriz Williams ended up with 11 points apiece. Fruehan continued her dominance in the low post with a team leading seven rebounds.
Meanwhile up north, the Haverford women’s basketball team dropped its regular season finale by double digits, securing the three seed for Hopkins in the conference tournament.
On Friday, Hopkins will travel to McDaniel College to take on conference foe Muhlenberg College. The Lady Jays dispatched the Mules by 17 points at home early in the season before suffering a 50-31 defeat on the road just over a month ago.
“I think that Friday we really need to step up our aggression and intensity on defense”, Tommasi said. “We need to make them feel uncomfortable and not allow them to get what they are looking for.”
In the loss to Muhlenberg earlier in the season, Hopkins struggled to score, shooting a paltry 23.6 percent from the field. According to Tommasi, the Jays will look to rebound from their previous poor shooting performance.
“I think in the second game against Muhlenberg we just didn’t show up”, Tommasi said. “We let them control the entire game offensively and defensively. I think to get the win on Friday, we need to focus on the little things and playing as a team.”
Clark added to this sentiment, noting that a better mentality should help the team.
“The second time that we played basketball we really struggled to match their intensity and to handle their zone,” Clark said. “This led to turnovers and poor shot selection. We are a much more mentally tough team at this point in the season, and I think that really maintaining our composure will be the biggest help to us this Friday.”
Funk will look to employ the same suffocating defensive scheme that has held Muhlenberg to a combined 29.4 percent shooting percentage in the previous two contests. The Jays are also sure to use their post players to harass Mules forward Leanna Tallamy. The senior is the third leading scorer in conference with 18.6 PPG, but has struggled to impose her authority on Hopkins.
The Jays have been in striking distance of the championship trophy the past few seasons.
“In the past four seasons prior to this one, we made it to the championship game three times and lost in every one,” Fleming said. “Last year, 15 out of the 16 girls on our current team got to experience that. Collectively we know how it feels to come so close only to fall short and I don’t think anyone wants to relive that.
“I hope that our underclassmen and team as a whole will make the most of this opportunity and realize that it’s not a given to make it that far.”
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