BALTIMORE, Md. – The Haverford College women's basketball team's record-breaking season came to a close Friday night as the fourth-seeded Fords fell to No.1 seed Johns Hopkins University, 55-47, in Centennial Conference semifinal action at Goldfarb Gymnasium.
Despite its best efforts, Haverford (18-9, 12-8 CC), participating in its first conference semifinal in program history, could not pull off the monumental task of defeating the 25th-ranked Blue Jays (23-3, 17-3) for the third time this season.
The Fords faced an 11-4 deficit to start the game as Johns Hopkins, enjoying the comfort of its home court, made five of its first seven shots. Haverford battled back to forge an 11-11 tie on a Dominique Meeks' layup with 11:34 on the clock. The Blue Jays crept back to a narrow 17-13 lead before freshman Elizabeth Lynch's three pointer moved the Fords to within one, 17-16, with just over seven minutes remaining until halftime. Answering with six of the next eight points, Johns Hopkins pushed out to a 23-18 lead but Rachel Baskin's layup with just under a minute remaining in the half trimmed the Haverford deficit to just three, 23-20, at intermission despite shooting a chilly 28 percent (8-of-29) from the floor.
Hoping to warm up in the second half, the Fords matched the Blue Jays in scoring over the opening minutes as Baskin's layup at 16:15 kept Haverford close, 27-24. Johns Hopkins managed to score the next eight points when the Fords, connecting on just two of their first 10 shots of the second half, still could not get going on the offensive end. Haverford would not go quietly, though, as the gritty Fords cut the deficit to six on two occasions but the Blue Jays went 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the final minute to seal the victory.
Haverford's defense, ranked 18th nationally, held Johns Hopkins to under 40 percent from the field and forced 17 turnovers, but was hurt by the Blue Jays performance at the free throw line (18-22).
Baskin finished with 14 points to lead the Fords. Lynch added 12, with all her points coming from behind the arc, and a game-high four steals. Meeks chipped in with nine points and five rebounds. Calla Miller helped the cause with eight points and three assists.
Alex Vassila took game-high honors in points (18), rebounds (17), and blocks (4) to lead the Blue Jays. Johns Hopkins moves on to the championship Saturday night against the winner of the second semifinal featuring Franklin & Marshall and Muhlenberg.
The loss brings a historic season to a close for Haverford as it set a program record for overall wins (18) and conference wins (12). Picked seventh in the preseason poll by the Centennial coaches, the Fords surpassed expectations and turned heads by securing many other monumental victories along the way to etch themselves into the history books and hearts of the Haverford faithful. Without a senior on the roster, the Fords will return looking to take the next step in 2013.