Ciara McCullagh, Johns Hopkins
WESTMINSTER, MD - Seniors Ciara McCullagh and Maggie Fruehan each finished with double-doubles, combining for 26 points and 30 rebounds, in Johns Hopkins' 61-52 win over the McDaniel Green Terror Wednesday night. It is the first time this season that a pair of Blue Jays finished with double-doubles.
McCullagh, starting in place of a sick Haley Bush, was dominant inside, using her 6-1 frame to corral 17 rebounds in just 22 minutes of work. She was also a handful for McDaniel defenders, as she finished 5-8 from the field on her way to 12 points.
Recognized as the team's "power punch" off the bench earlier this season by her head coach, Fruehan packed a lot of power in this one, as she finished with 12 points and a career-high 13 rebounds in 27 minutes of work off the bench. She also buried a smooth 15-foot jumper just as the horn sounded to end the first half, giving the Jays a 31-27 lead entering intermission.
The Jays traded baskets to start the second half, getting buckets from McCullagh and Beatriz Williams, while the Green Terror countered with deuces from Steph Perez and Lindsey Nichols. Two Liz Tommasi free throws finally bumped the Jays lead to six four minutes into the second half.
The two teams would trade missed shots and free throws for the next two minutes before Jasmine Smith split a pair of free throws, cutting the lead to five. Fruehan missed a jumper on the ensuing possession, and Alyssa March tallied a bucket of her own on the other end, cutting the lead to three.
Tommasi would answer with a jumper of her own, but March countered with one on her end, keeping the margin at three, 39-36.
That margin remained until Fruehan grabbed the rebound off a Katie Clark miss, and layed it up and in. Nichols responded by attacking the rim and drawing a foul on Fruehan. The junior from Delaware nailed both free throws, and trimed the lead back to two.
After a McCullagh made free throw, Nichols answered back with a layup of her own. Fruehan responded with a jumper for the Jays, before Steph Perez buried her first three of the game after a Blue Jays turnover in the backcourt, cutting the lead to one, 44-43, and forcing a Blue Jays timeout.
The first bucket after the timeout came over two minutes later, as Williams converted a layup, bumping the Jays' lead back to three.
Perez tried to tie the game with a triple-try, but missed and the Jays went the other way. Despite three layup opportunities, the Jays were unable to convert on the possession, and the lead remained at three. It would stay that way until McCullagh grabbed an offensive rebound and put it up and in, giving the Jays a 48-43 lead with 4:51 remaining.
After getting two big stops sandwiched around a turnover of their own, the Jays got a huge offensive rebound by Alyssa Fleming following a missed triple by Williams. Halfway through the new shot clock, Fleming found herself all alone on the right wing, and knocked down her lone shot attempt of the game, giving the Jays a seven point lead with 3:27 left to play.
On the Green Terror's next possession, Nichols responded with a jumper of her own, closing the deficit to five. But McCullagh snared her fifth offensive rebound of the night, and put it in, pushing the lead back to seven.
The next Green Terror possession saw Perez miss a three and McCullagh grab the rebound. But as she went to outlet the ball to Clark, her pass was stolen by Brittney Davis, who passed it to March for what looked to be a momentum-changing score. But McCullagh recovered quickly, and contested the shot enough to force a miss before grabbing the rebound.
Williams capitalized on the ensuing possession, pushing the Jays lead to nine, 54-45, with 1:55 remaining.
Davis got cut the deficit to seven after a short jumper. As Hopkins inbounded the ball and went to start its next possession, Davis used her quick hands to snatch a steal, but she was unable to convert.
After McDaniel missed a free throw, Nichols fouled Clark, who nailed the front-end of her one-and-one to give Hopkins a 55-47 lead with 1:01 remaining.
Following a Davis layup, Clark and McCullagh combined to hit six free throws and put the game away, as the Jays walked out of the Gill Center with a 62-51 win.
In addition to the McCullagh and Fruehan double-doubles, Clark added a career-high 10 rebounds from her guard position. Lead by those three, who combined for a whopping 40 rebounds, the Jays outrebounded the Green Terror, 60-31. It was the first time all season the Blue Jays had three different players finished with double-digit rebounds.
The Blue Jays did a tremendous job defensively on Nichols, who came into the game as the second leading scorer in the conference. The Jays rotated multiple defenders on her, and held her to just 10 points on 3-18 shooting. It was her second-lowest point total of the season.
On the night, the Jays held McDaniel to 22-71 from the field, including 2-16 from three-point range.
Williams led the way in the scoring column with 14 points on 6-11 from the field.
Hopkins is next in action Saturday, as it hosts Washington College. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m.