HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College women's basketball team (7-5, 4-4 CC) fell to Johns Hopkins (8-2, 5-1 CC). by a score of 54-40 inside Gooding Arena on Saturday afternoon. The Fords were paced by an 11-point performance from Cortlyn Morris, while Kayla Robinson and Gia Flamini both added eight points in an all-around effort. Morris proved to be a force defensively, tallying seven blocks, just one shy of her career high in that category, while pulling down seven rebounds.
It was a slow shooting start for both teams in the opening quarter of basketball. Haverford and Johns Hopkins found themselves tied at eight points at the end of the first quarter. The Fords shot just 3-10 from the field while the Blue Jays went 3-12 in that opening stanza. The defensive pressure was high early on due in part to the Fords' warming full-court press. Johns Hopkins matched the Fords with quick feet of their own on the defensive end in the early goings. The box score showed how evenly matched the teams were as each team ended the quarter with five turnovers and five made shots but the Blue Jays outrebounded Haverford 11-6 in the opening 10 minutes of action.
Johns Hopkins gained a slight advantage in the next quarter behind the play of Greta Miller. The forward scored six of the team's nine points in the quarter while Natalie Mann tallied the remaining three points to their ledger. Flamini was the bright spot for the Fords as she scored all five of Haverford's points in the second. The first half ended with the Blue Jays leading the Fords 17-13 heading into halftime.
Haverford did all they could to manage a comeback in the second half but The Blue Jays worked hard to preserve their four-point lead in the third quarter. Each team would trade baskets, as a Robinson layup with 3:05 remaining in the quarter cut the lead down to just two. However, Hopkins would build their lead to nine points to end the third quarter on an 8-2 run.
The fourth quarter was the highest-scoring quarter of the game for both teams. The Fords cut the lead to six as Robinson poured in a layup with 7:21 to play, but the hosts could never get it below that mark as the Blue Jays were able to finish off the Fords in the final minutes. Robinson also added seven boards, while Ally Landau added six points and three rebounds.
Caroline Andersen marked her return to collegiate action with 10 minutes off the bench, grabbing two rebounds, an assist, and tallying a block. Diarra Oden was a force for the visitors with 17 points and eight rebounds, posting a team-high 35 minutes of action.
Women's basketball will next return to action on January 11, away at McDaniel. Tip-off for that contest is slated for approximately 6 p.m. and will be followed by the Haverford men taking on the Green Terror at approximately 8 p.m.