HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College women's basketball team (14-7, 12-5 CC) came up just short in a home contest against conference leaders Johns Hopkins (16-4, 13-2 CC) on Saturday inside Gooding '84 Arena, falling to the visitors by a final score of 55-49.
The Fords were led by Ally Landau, as the guard eclipsed 20 points for the third straight game after her 23-point performance. Kayla Robinson registered yet another double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Cortlyn Morris totaled three blocks to reach 82 total blocks on the season. The senior is just five blocks away from Haverford's all-time record for blocks in a season, a mark she will look to chase after with three regular season games remaining. Morris finished with seven points and six rebounds.
As expected, the game was tightly contested for the majority of the contest. However, Haverford was able to jump out to a 7-0 lead in the early goings. After Robinson scored the first points for the Fords, Landau took over to score the next five points. Johns Hopkins ended the run with a Zoe Soule layup, and slowly chipped away at the lead before the end of the quarter. Landau continued to dominate, knocking down three shots from beyond the arc in the opening quarter. Eventually, the Haverford lead was whittled down to only two points when the buzzer sounded as Haverford led 15-13 after 10 minutes of play.
By the 7:47 mark of the second quarter, the visitors grabbed their first lead of the day, thanks to a Macie Feldman jump shot to make it 19-17. Feldman later knocked down another shot to push the lead to fou, and that is when the Fords struggled to get anything going. Haverford was held scoreless for the next five minutes, frustrated by Johns Hopkins' defense. However, the Fords did the same to their opponents as Hopkins was also held scoreless in the same five-minute stretch. A ramp-up of intensity could certainly be felt in the arena. The scoring drought came to an end when Abby Ryan found an opening in the lane to make a crafty shot, getting fouled in the process. After Ryan completed the three-point play, Haverford only trailed by one.
The Fords regained the lead after free throws from Robinson and Morris as the clock read 2:48. The two teams traded baskets for the remainder of the half with Johns Hopkins taking a slight four-point edge into halftime. The game remained even in the third quarter. Haverford tied things up early after a Robinson jump shot two minutes into the quarter. Johns Hopkins' lead hovered around two or four points for much of the game's action. The Fords just could not seem to tie the game and struggled to create momentum. The Blue Jays had an answer for every shot Haverford knocked down in the stanza.
The quarter's heavy lifting was done mostly by Morris on both the offensive and defensive ends. Gia Flamini got in on the scoring action to bring the Fords closer but the visitors kept them mostly at bay. Morris scored four of her seven points in the third quarter. Flamini scored four points in the quarter, and finished with six points and five rebounds for the game. With one quarter left to play, the Fords faced a 41-39 deficit.
The action from the third quarter carried over to the fourth. The closest Haverford came to the lead was at the 6:08 mark when the Fords trailed 43-41. Jumpstarted by free throws from Johns Hopkins' Olivia Parisi, the Blue Jays slowly built a lead that Haverford couldn't recover from. Despite efforts from Landau and Robinson, the Fords fell short, only scoring 10 points in the game's final quarter.
Haverford lost a few battles in the box score on the day. The hosts were outscored in the paint 26-18, and in bench production 17-3. Haverford finished the game making 15 shots with five of those coming off assists.
The contest was part of Haverford's Play with Pride Day, celebrating the spirit of the LGBTQ+ community and promoting advocacy for and by LGBTQ+ community members. The Fords now return to action for another key away game on Tuesday, February 7 against Muhlenberg. The contest is slated for 6 p.m. and will be followed by the men taking on the Mules at 8 p.m.