BALTIMORE, Md. – In a Centennial Conference clash of the top two teams, the Gettysburg College women's basketball team came out on top as they downed Johns Hopkins University 56-49 in Goldfarb Gym on Saturday afternoon to remain perfect in league play.
 
Gettysburg (14-2, 11-0 CC) increases its Centennial Conference victories to 26 straight after snapping Johns Hopkins (13-3, 9-2) five game winning streak.  
 
Junior Ashley Gehrin (Chester, N.J./West Morris Mendham) and sophomore Meredith Brown (Landisburg, Pa./West Perry) each paced the Orange and Blue with 16 points apiece. Gehrin grabbed six rebounds and hit 7-of-8 from the free throw line with Brown shooting 5-of-9 from the field, 6-of-7 from the charity stripe, and five boards.
 
Senior Emma Dorshimer (Jenkintown, Pa./Jenkintown), the conference's leading scorer, produced 11 points, hitting 3-of-4 from 3-point range. With her 11-point performance, she is eight points shy of passing Caitlin Moser '11 into second all-time in career scoring at Gettysburg.
 
Lillian Scott, the league's third leading scorer, guided the Blue Jays with 18 points, going 5-of-5 at the free throw line. Diarra Oden chipped in 10 points and four rebounds.
 
The first basket of the game went to Johns Hopkins when Rory Cole made a layup at the 8:55 marker in the opening quarter. Cole went on to hit one of her two free throws 35 seconds later to make it 3-0. A jumper by sophomore Meredith Brown (Landisburg, Pa./West Perry), a step back 3-pointer by junior Ashley Gehrin, and a jumper by senior Teal Tasker (Chambersburg, Pa./Mercersburg Academy) ignited a 7-0 run to take the 7-3 advantage. A layup by Brown with 5:24 remaining in the period forged a 9-0 run for the Bullets, holding the Blue Jays scoreless over the next four minutes, making it the largest lead at 10 (16-6). A trey and a jumper by Johns Hopkins in the last 1:22 cut the deficit down to five (16-11) heading into the second quarter.
 
Gettysburg shot 63.6 percent (7-of-11) from the field, holding Johns Hopkins to 33.3 percent (4-of-12) from the floor in the first quarter.
 
Dorshimer knocked down her second triple with 6:37 showing in the second quarter to push the Bullets lead by nine (24-15). Johns Hopkins chipped away at the deficit as they produced a 5-0 run to come within four (24-20) with 3:43 to go in the period. A layup by freshman Mackenzie Tinner (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock High School North) gave Gettysburg the six-point cushion, but back-to-back baskets by the Blue Jays in the last 1:49 made it a one-point game. Gehrin popped a jumper with 26 seconds to go, giving the Bullets the three-point lead at the half (28-25).  
 
Johns Hopkins started the third quarter scoring the first five points, taking the lead for the first time since the opening period. The Bullets offense started flowing and the defense was aggressive as they then held the Jays Blues scoreless for nearly five minutes. During that time, Gettysburg fueled a dominating 12-0 run pushing the advantage back to 10 (40-30). The last 2:47 of the third consisted of trips to the charity stripe as the Blue Jays went 4-for-4 and Brown made a pair for the Bullets. Gettysburg led 42-37 heading into the final period.
 
Johns Hopkins two times closed within one point of tying Gettysburg. A four-minute span without a field goal allowed the Bullets to pull away 49-45 in the fourth quarter. A layup by the Blue Jays Rory Cole sliced the Bullets lead down to two (49-47) with 1:27 remaining. After a 30-second timeout by Gettysburg, the career leader in 3-pointers made, Dorshimer, hit a huge trey with 29 seconds left to push the lead back up to five. The Blue Jays did not go away as Scholtz made a jumper with 19 seconds on the clock to make it a three-point game. Scholtz had an opportunity to make it a two-point game, but missed the trey with eight seconds left. A pair of free throws by Gehrin and Dorshimer in the final 16 seconds of the game helped seal the deal for the Bullets.
 
Holding the top three spots in the CC standings are Gettysburg, Johns Hopkins and Ursinus College (10-5, 7-3 CC).    
 
Gettysburg ended the game shooting 40 percent (18-of-45) from the field, went 15-of-17 (88.2 percent) from the free throw line and blocked seven shots, the second-highest of the season. Johns Hopkins shot 29.1 percent (16-of-55) from the floor and went 12-of-20 (60 percent) from the charity stripe.
 
Gettysburg returns to Bream Gym on Thursday, January 24th, when it takes on Dickinson College in another Centennial Conference affair. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.