BALTIMORE, Md. - The Haverford College women's basketball team (10-4, 6-4 CC) mounted a furious fourth quarter comeback, but fell just short of forcing overtime in a 61-58 loss to host Johns Hopkins (13-2, 9-1 CC) on Wednesday evening inside the Goldfarb Gymnasium. Maddie Gallic poured in a career-best 22 points as the Fords cut a lead that reached as many as 18 in the third quarter to a single possession in the final seconds of the contest.
After struggling from the field in the second quarter, the Fords found themselves down by 11 at the intermission. The third quarter started ominously, as the Blue Jays came out of the break with back-to-back buckets from Lillian Scott, and eventually saw Scott finish one of two from the charity stripe to extend the lead to a peak of 18 with just 6:11 remaining in the period. The Fords closed the third on a 9-2 spurt, as Anna-Sophia Capizzi knocked down a trey to beat the third quarter buzzer. Suddenly, Haverford saw the Johns Hopkins lead dwindle to just nine heading into the final period.
Madison McGrath opened the fourth quarter scoring with a three-pointer of her own, and Lexie Scholtz connected from downtown as the lead stretched back to 13 in favor of the hosts. Rory Cole finished a layup for a 15-point lead with 7:08 to play, and Johns Hopkins appeared ready to cruise to a victory in the final five minutes of action.
The Fords had other plans, as Macy Goldbach notched a layup with 4:27 to play, cutting the lead to 11. Gallic hit a three to trim the lead to single digits at nine with just under four minutes to play. Goldbach went to work in the final 120 seconds, as the co-captain added a pair of buckets as Haverford was down just six with 1:28 remaining. Scholtz converted one of two at the free-throw line, but Gallic cut the lead to just five with a layup at the other end.
Johns Hopkins turned the ball over on the ensuing possession, allowing Gallic to cut the lead down to three with a layup, as the clock read 32 seconds. Haverford again sent Scholtz to the free-throw line, and she missed the back end of her two shots, giving Haverford a chance to cut the lead to one possession, down just 60-56 with 22 seconds remaining. Julianna Clark hit a long two-pointer, her foot just inside the arc, and the Fords fouled on the next Blue Jays possession, sending Scott to the line.
Scott hit one of her two shots, handing Haverford an opportunity to tie the contest with 14 seconds remaining on the game clock, down 61-58.
On the Haverford possession, the ball found Goldbach in the corner. Goldbach launched a strong three-point attempt that just fell out after an agonizing spin on the rim. Haverford regained possession on the ball out of bounds, and Goldbach had another look at the game-tying strike. The Johns Hopkins defense did well to defend the attempt from the opposite corner, as the shot missed the mark allowing the hosts to escape with the narrowest of victories.
Haverford won the battle on the glass, with 18 rebounds to just 13 for the Blue Jays. That total was aided by career-best totals for Nyla Robinson (8) and Clark (6). Goldbach again tallied in double figures, with the senior reaching double digits in scoring for the 12th time this season. Goldbach also added three steals.
Scott paced three Blue Jays in double-figure scoring with 19. Cole pulled down eight rebounds in her 22 minutes of work.
The Fords will return to action on Saturday, traveling to the campus of Franklin & Marshall for the second time this season. Haverford previously competed in the Terry Greene Tip-Off Classic at the Mayser Center in Lancaster. Haverford defeated the Diplomats in Haverford during November. Tip-off with the Diplomats is slated for 1 p.m and will be followed by the Haverford men taking on F&M at 3 p.m.