BALTIMORE - The Haverford College women's basketball team (16-10) was defeated in the Centennial Conference semifinals by host Johns Hopkins (21-5), dropping a 55-45 decision to the Blue Jays at Goldfarb Gymnasium on Friday night. By virtue of the victory, Johns Hopkins advances to Sunday's Centennial Conference Championship game, which they will host against second-seeded Gettysburg.
Ally Landau matched a game-high with 18 points while Kayla Robinson finished her stellar campaign with yet another double-double, adding 11 points to 13 rebounds. Cortlyn Morris finished the night with four blocks, increasing her NCAA leading total to 102. Olivia Parsi (18 points) and Michela O'Neal (14 points) were the key contributors for the Blue Jays.
Landau opened the scoring at the 9:05 mark of the first quarter as the Fords began the contest on a 10-2 run. Both teams used a swarming defensive presence in the paint to limit scoring opportunities out of the gates, but Haverford had its offensive game plan working to start off the night. Landau knocked down a smooth mid-range jumper with 3:22 to play, and Erin Albright then hit a quick layup in transition as things seemed to be clicking early on the road.
Abby Ryan converted a three-point play with 31.4 seconds left in the first quarter to put the Fords up 13-4. Haverford forced seven total turnovers in the first stanza, heading into the huddle up by seven points.
The Blue Jays rallied back in a stifling second quarter, using a 12-0 run to take a 16-13 advantage with under four minutes remaining in the first half. Michaela O'Neil connected from long range to even things, and the Blue Jays went ahead 14-13 with 3:44 to go as she knocked down 1-of-2 from the free-throw line, prompting a Haverford timeout. Landau trimmed the lead down to just one at 16-15, but another 4-0 spurt for the Jays helped the visitors head into the intermission up 22-15 as the visitors were held to just two points in that second frame.
The second half began with a quick 4-0 spurt from the Blue Jays, prompting another Haverford timeout to regroup as Hopkins pulled ahead by 12. O'Neil continued to have a strong presence in the paint, pouring in the next bucket for the hosts and later assisting on the basket from Olivia Parisi on the next Blue Jays possession. A 10-0 Hopkins run to close the third quarter put the visitors ahead by 18, as Johns Hopkins looked like it may be able to cruise to the final after Kristin Ralston notched a layup with 27 seconds remaining.
A pair of fourth quarter buckets from Robinson trimmed the Blue Jays advantage to just 13 at 49-36, and Landau later brought the Fords back within 12 with her triple. The run eventually stretched to 13-4 as Haverford cut the Blue Jays lead back to just seven with under a minute remaining. Landau and Robinson were each integral in that stretch as Haverford refused to go away.
With Haverford forced to foul, Johns Hopkins extended the lead back to nine with Parsi on the free-throw line, but a driving layup from Robinson again trimmed the score to single digits with just 17 seconds left. The rally came up a bit short as a jump ball situation gave Haverford some late life before Parsi again knocked down a pair of free throws following a fruitless possession to reflect the 10-point margin.
A hot shooting second and third quarter for the Blue Jays proved to be the difference as Haverford outscored the hosts 13-6 in the first quarter and 19-11 in the fourth. Johns Hopkins committed 17 turnovers on the evening.
Haverford finishes the season with a 16-10 record, earning a trip to the Centennial Conference tournament for the 11th consecutive season. The Fords also made their sixth consecutive semifinals appearance in 2022-23.