Jays beat Swat, upset by McDaniel

The Hopkins women's
basketball team has quickly
put together a wonderful
season thus far, posting an
19-3 record overall and a
14-3 Centennial Conference
record. Looking to take advantage
of an opportunity
to clinch a playoff berth
in the conference playoffs,
the Lady Jays traveled to
Swarthmore on Saturday.
The 23rd-ranked Blue Jays
pummeled rival Swarthmore,
relentlessly scoring 71
points to win by a margin of
29 points, 71-42. The win extended
the Jays' current win
streak to seven games.
Led by senior guard
Chantel Mattiola and junior
forward Alex Vassila,
Hopkins was able to open
up the scoring attack in
the first half. With a slow
offensive start, Hopkins
had to rely on the defense
to keep them in the game,
and the girls stepped up.
The first lead of the game
came on a Vassila bucket to
put the Lady Jays on top 5-4
with 15 minutes remaining
in the first half. At that point,
the offensive scoring explosion
was ignited. Hopkins
pulled out to a 22-8 lead,
not allowing Swarthmore to
score double digits until six
minutes were remaining in
the first period.
Shooting a remarkable
52 percent as a team in
opening half, the Blue Jays
went into the locker room
at half time leading, 32-16.
Vassila once again established
her dominance,
posting her sixth doubledouble
of the year with 17
points and 12 rebounds.
Mattiola added 16 points of
her own, complemented by
10 points from sophomore
guard Fatu Conteh and
eight points from junior
forward Sarah Higbee.
As a team the defensive
effort was astounding,
Hopkins held Swarthmore
to 16 first half points and
only allowed five of 32 attempts
from the
field to reach the
bottom of the
net, a 15.6 percent
shooting percentage.
In the second
half, Swarthmore
ramped it up to 25
percent, but still
only totaled 42
points on the game.
The second half
opened similarly
to the first, with a
slow offensive performance
from the
veteran Hopkins
team. Swarthmore
was able to cut the
lead to 12 points
early in the half
before the Lady
Jays stepped on the accelerator,
piecing together
a 17-6 run and extending
their already large lead.
Once again Swarthmore
attempted to crawl back
into the game, but Hopkins
went on yet another powerful
scoring run to put the
game out of reach. The largest
lead of the game came
with just 44 seconds remaining,
as Hopkins led by
31 points, 71-40, before the
final buzzer sounded with
a 71-42 Blue Jay advantage.
The Lady Jays shot 50
percent on the day, spreading
the ball around and allowing
ten players to compile
positive numbers in
the points category. Three
players added double figure
points and the team tallied
11 blocks on the game,
six coming from leading
scorer Alex Vassila.
Overall, the game was a
summary of the season as
a whole, a dominant performance
that expressed
just how powerful and successful
this women's team
can be.
On Wednesday night at
McDaniel, however, Hopkins
was upset by the Green
Terror at the buzzer, 76-74.
The loss was one of the bigger
shocks of the Centennial
season, as the game pitted
the first-place Jays against
eighth-place McDaniel.
The team is excited looking
forward and has just
three games remaining on
the season before they attempt
to increase the intensity
level and make a run
deep into the playoffs.