HAVERFORD, Pa. – Playing yet another exciting, down to the wire Centennial Conference contest, the Haverford College Women's basketball team survived a comeback attempt from visiting Johns Hopkins on Saturday afternoon at the Gooding '84 Arena, prevailing 61-54. The Fords were paced by another great effort from Sierra Berkel, who poured in 16 points and added 9 rebounds. Katie Cook missed a career-high by one point with a 14 point game while Macy Goldbach also posted a double-digit output with 12 points. Haverford improves to 9-4 (7-2 CC) while the Blue Jays fall to 5-8 (4-5 CC).
Haverford shot 43.8 percent to 32.4 percent for the Blue Jays. The matchup was a game of runs as the Fords started out hot, pulling to an 18-11 lead at the end of the first quarter with a Cook three pointer punctuating the fast start.
Haverford would press on, turning the seven point lead into an 18 point lead at 29-11, dominating the early part of the second half on a 11-0 spurt. Goldbach drained a three at the 5:35 mark, giving the Fords hopes for a comfortable victory up by 18 with thoughts of a cruise towards the finish line.
Samantha Wetzel hit a jumper to give the Fords a 33-17 lead, but Johns Hopkins turned on the jets from that point, cutting the lead to 33-25 at the half. The run continued well into the third quarter as Madison McGrath hit back-to-back shots to cut the Haverford lead to just 33-31 with 7:19 remaining in the third.
Hopkins tied the contest at 34-34 with a three-point basket from Caroline Corcoran with 6:41 remaining in the quarter, which gave the visitors their first tie since 0-0. The Blue Jays trailed the entire afternoon until battling back to take a 38-36 lead with a Elle Hepburn layup with 3:40 remaining in the quarter. The teams then traded buckets until Lillian Scott ended the quarter with a layup and a 1-2 trip to the line that put Johns Hopkins up 45-42 in an unexpected turn of events for the hosts.
In the fourth quarter, Berkel took the reins, driving to the basket and finding the glass for a huge layup that put Haverford up 48-47. After Corcoran responded with a basket on the other end, Cook hit a three pointer to give the Fords a 51-49 lead. Hopkins responded with a quick Lexie Scholtz jumper, her first basket of the second half, to tie the score at 51-51 as the shot clock expired with just over three minutes left to play in regulation.
Berkel was fouled and hit two from the free throw line with under a minute left to give the Fords a 53-51 advantage. Maddie Gallic then pushed the lead to 55-51 with a pair of successful free throw attempts and the Fords looked to close it out at the line, as Gallic and Cook each hit their shots from the line to allow Haverford to escape with victory after a formidable challenge from the visitors from Baltimore.
Gallic had an all-around performance, as the freshman posted career-high outputs in points (9) and assists (6) in 38 minutes of action. Haverford's performance at the free throw line (14-15, 93 percent) was the third best team effort in program history. The Fords picked up their fifth win in a row and currently sit in first place in the Centennial Conference after scoring the most points of any contest thus far this season. The win was the third straight at Gooding Arena against Johns Hopkins dating back to the winter of 2015.
The Fords will yet again have a quick turnaround as Main Line foe Immaculata comes to town on Monday night for a 6:00 p.m. non-conference tipoff. The game will be followed by an 8:00 p.m. game between the Haverford men and Rutgers-Camden. At halftime of the men's game, Haverford will honor all senior varsity student-athletes on Senior Varsity Blanket Night.