The Basics 
• Score: JHU – 58 • ECSU - 42
• Records: Hopkins (23-4) • Eastern Connecticut State University (19-9)
• Location: Scranton, PA • John Long Center
• The Short Story: The Johns Hopkins women's basketball team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 58-42 victory over Eastern Connecticut State on Friday night. The Blue Jays had three players score in double-figures while Rory Cole recorded a double-double in the victory.

How it Happened
• Hopkins got out to a quick start against the Warriors as a Cole layup gave the Blue Jays a 13-4 advantage at 5:58. Lillian Scott made it a 12-point Hopkins lead with a three at 3:32 and a jumper from Lexie Scholtz with three seconds remaining in the first gave JHU a 21-6 lead after the first 10 minutes of play.
• Cole scored the first four points of the second quarter to put Johns Hopkins ahead 25-6. Eastern Connecticut got a layup from Mya Villard and a free throw from Anna Barry to make the score 25-9, as the Warriors scored four of the next six points to make the score 27-13 with 3:54 left in the half. Madison McGrath hit two threes including one with eight seconds remaining in the half off a pass from Scott to help send Hopkins into the half with a 34-17 lead.
• Johns Hopkins continued to control the pace in the second half as they opened the third quarter on a 6-2 run to take a 40-19 lead. The Warriors responded as a 6-0 run pulled them to within 13 with 1:30 remaining. Scholtz stopped the run with a layup, however, ECSU scored the quarters last three points as Hopkins took a 44-32 lead into the fourth.
• A free throw from Barry got the Warriors to within 13, but that is as close as they would get as JHU pulled away and took the game by a final score of 58-42 to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.  

What it Means
• This marks the first meeting between the two programs.
• Hopkins is now 9-1 all-time in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
• The Blue Jays set a new program record for made threes, as Hopkins has hit 174 shots from deep this season, besting the previous record of 172 which was set in the 2016-17 season.

Inside the Box Score
• Scholtz led Hopkins with 16 points while Scott finished with 11.
• Cole registered her fifth double-double this season as she finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
• With her first three of the game, McGrath became the eighth player in Blue Jay history to hit 100 threes in their career. She is now tied for sixth all-time in team history.
• The Blue Jay defense held ECSU to just 21% shooting from the floor and 25% from deep.

Up Next
• Hopkins will play Scranton tomorrow, Saturday March 2 at 6pm.