Women's Basketball Falls to Johns Hopkins, Turns Focus to CC Tournament

Cortlyn Morris
Cortlyn Morris

BALTIMORE -  The Haverford College women's basketball team (21-4, 18-2 CC) dropped its regular season finale to Johns Hopkins (17-8, 14-6 CC) by a final of 45-39 on Saturday at Goldfarb Gymnasium, snapping a program-long 11-game win streak. Haverford, already assured of the top seed in next week's Centennial Conference tournament, stormed back to pull to within just four in the closing seconds, but the hosts were able to defend home court with a defensive stand for the upset victory. 

Johns Hopkins began the contest on a 12-6 spurt, and Diara Oden connected on a three-pointer with less than seven minutes to go to put the hosts up 19-10. Anna-Sophia Capizzi cut to the bucket to trim that lead to just seven with 6:14 to go in the half, as Haverford ended the first half on a 5-1 run, trailing by just four at the intermission. The stretch left the Blue Jays clinging to a 20-16 advantage in what emerged as a defensive battle through the opening 20 minutes. 

With 9:04 to go in the third quarter, Capizzi poured in her third field goal of the afternoon, overtaking the Haverford program record for points in a single season in the process. Capizzi moved past Claudette Pirwitz '96, who previously held the record with 475 points in the 1995-96 campaign. Capizzi finished the contest with 13 total points and has 483 total points thus far in 2019-20. 

A 9-2 Johns Hopkins run put the Blue Jays ahead by 11 with 1:24 remaining in the third quarter, but after Diarra Oden poured in a layup with 7:15 remaining in regulation for a 13-point advantage, Haverford unleashed a 14-5 run down the stretch, pulling back to within just four with 24.2 seconds remaining. The spurt was keyed by a triple from Capizzi, and the strong showing continued at the line as Cortlyn Morris connected on both of her attempts in the final minute, sealing a perfect 6-for-6 effort from the free-throw line. 

The Fords fouled to send Johns Hopkins to the line with just 20 seconds remaining, and Emily Howie knocked down both her shots at the charity stripe, extending the lead back to six. Haverford called timeout to advance the ball to midcourt, but Capizzi saw her initial three-point attempt fall just off target. Julianna Clark collected the offensive rebound, but with the game clock ticking down, the defense from Johns Hopkins was able to clamp down, denying the Fords in the final seconds. 

Morris had a standout performance with 10 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks. Capizzi added seven rebounds to her 13-point afternoon. Oden paced all scorers with 15 points while Erin Walsh had a team-best seven rebounds for Johns Hopkins. 

Haverford will now begin its prep to host the Centennial Conference tournament, with action at Gooding '84 Arena slated to begin at 6 p.m. on Friday, February 28. The Fords will host the winner of the first-round contest between Swarthmore and Dickinson, which is scheduled for Tuesday at 7 p.m. The second semifinal will feature second-seeded Gettysburg and third-seeded Johns Hopkins at approximately 8 p.m. Haverford is making its ninth consecutive appearance in the Centennial Conference tournament, and will be hosting the proceedings for the second time in four seasons.