Women's basketball returned to action against Susquehanna University

Women’s basketball opened up their season on the road against the Susquehanna University River Hawks on Friday, Nov. 5. Though the return to basketball was highly anticipated, Hopkins unfortunately lost 65-4 after getting outscored 41-17 in the second and third quarters. 

To begin the game, Hopkins fell behind 8-2, but a 13-2 run for the Blue Jays gave them the lead at the end of the first quarter. Sophomore guard Christine Corpuz, freshman guard Natalie Mann and senior guard Diarra Oden helped the Blue Jays to an impressive start. After the end of the first quarter, Hopkins led 15-10; however, a 24-9 second quarter gave Susquehanna a 10-point advantage at the half. Susquehanna junior guard Kaitlyn Lynch’s three-pointer and mid-range jumper capped the crushing run that gave the River Hawks the halftime lead.

The River Hawks came out in the second half on a mission, scoring the first eight points in only 90 seconds to increase the lead to 42-26, capped off by Susquehanna forward Olivia Brandt. Hopkins senior forward Erin Walsh halted the run with a layup to cut the lead to 14, but the River Hawks never let the lead get closer. Susquehanna guard Erin McQuillen’s time-expiring three-pointer pushed the lead up to 20. Hopkins did cut the deficit to 14 again with 6:08 remaining in the fourth quarter, but for every Hopkins run Susquehanna had an answer, scoring the final 10 points of the game that resulted in a 65-41 final score.

This was only the second matchup between Hopkins and Susquehanna, each team having won on their home court, and the first time since the 2017-18 season that the Blue Jays lost their season opener.

Oden and Mann lead the scoring effort for the Blue Jays with nine points each. Freshman center Jadyn Murray, in her college debut, recorded eight points and nine rebounds in just 12 minutes, a very impressive performance that just narrowly missed a double-double.

For Susquehanna, both Brandt, with 21 points and 11 rebounds, and McQuillen, with 16 points and 12 rebounds, recorded double-doubles.

Hopkins entered this season voted second in the Centennial Conference preseason poll, tallying three first-place votes and 179 total, only 11 points behind current favorite Gettysburg College. The 2019-20 season saw the Blue Jays finish 17-9 overall with a 14-6 record in the conference. Under head coach Katherine Bixby, Hopkins has won at least 17 games in each of the last three seasons.

Captains Oden and Walsh and junior guard Emily Howie are the only returners from the previous season.

After capturing their first victory of the season on Tuesday against York College, Hopkins will have the opportunity to improve to 2-1 against Stevenson University on Friday.