The Lady Jays finished a three game stretch against Gettysburg, Ursinus, and Dickinson with a record of 2-1 (1-2). Against Gettysburg, the Lady Jays fell behind early in the second half after a 10-0 rally by the Bullets, and lost 54-48.
Senior Alex Vassila and sophomore Stacy Fairey each had 12 points in the losing effort, while three other Blue Jays chipped in 6 points each.
After starting no games her freshman season, Fairey has come on strong in her sophomore campaign, starting in each game Hopkins has played. On her improvements from last season to this season, Fairey said “Since the end of last season, I worked a lot on my ball handling and just getting physically stronger, which I think has helped a lot with my confidence on the court.”
With Hopkins trailing by two points and under four minutes left, the Bullets converted on five of seven free throws to ensure a victory over the Lady Jays. After being down by 10 with 8:23 left in the second half, Fairey knocked down clutch shots to help the team climb back to within two with 3:27 left in the game, but the Bullets proved too much that day.
On Saturday though, the fortunes turned for the Lady Jays as they pulled off a gutsy overtime win against the Ursinus Bears, 70-61.
After controlling the court for most of the game, the Lady Jays let the Bears back into the game in the second half, which set the stage for strong performances by Vassila and freshman Beatriz Williams.
Williams, who notched 11 points and eight rebounds, knocked down a clutch three late in the second half for Hopkins, while Vassila had a game to remember. Vassila drilled a career high 22 points and brought down 20 rebounds, leading the Lady Jays in both categories. The game was sent into overtime by Ursinus freshman Tori Steinberg, who drained a three to tie the game at 57. In overtime though, Fairey scored seven points and Vassila boarded seven of her 20 rebounds as the Lady Jays cruised to victory in the extra period of play.
Coming into the next week, the Lady Jays were 3-5 overall with a 1-3 record within the Centennial Conference. The next foes they faced were the Dickinson Red Devils, and unfortunately the Lady Jays came out with a similar outcome to the Gettysburg game. Although the girls put up a strong defensive effort, Dickinson came out on top 56-51. The Red Devils were held to a season low 56 points, but it turned out not to be enough. The Lady Jays were in control for the majority of the game, but the Red Devils mounted a fierce comeback fueled by a 16-2 run. That run ruined a 12 point lead for Hopkins.
The Lady Jays were leading at half time 28-22 and playing fundamentally sound basketball, and with 10 minutes left in the second half the Lady Jays held a 44-32 lead on the Red Devils.
But Dickinson had other ideas for the remainder of the game. With five minutes to play, Dickinson finally took the lead after a 3-pointer from Rachel Sisco.
The Lady Jays were led in scoring by Fairey, who scored 15 points. Freshman Liz Tommasi had a breakout game, as she registered career highs in points, assists, and rebounds with 12, 5 and 6 respectively. Dickinson is now 6-2 (2-2 in CC), while the Lady Jays have fallen to 3-6 (1-4 in CC).
Hopkins plays two more games in December. Following their three-game stretch, Vassila had encouraging words to say about the team: “I think that our main strength is that when we work together and execute our plays, no one can stop us. We saw that in the first half of the Gettysburg and Dickinson game last night, and throughout the entire game against Ursinus. Even though we lost against Gettysburg and Dickinson, we are learning and I think that once we establish ourselves for an entire game, we will be unstoppable.”
Fairey added, "It's definitely not easy going from having such a successful season last year to starting out a little slower this year, but we've recognized that we're a young team and it might take a little longer to learn how to play together successfully. I think our record motivates us even more because we all believe that we still have a chance to be one of the top teams in the conference. It's still early in the season, and we've already made huge improvements as a team since our first game."
Today, the Lady Jays travel to Westminster, MD to take on the McDaniel Green Terror. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. The Green Terror are 3-3 (1-2 in CC) so far this season. Following their trip to Westminster, Hopkins returns home to Goldfarb Gym to host Muhlenberg on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Mules are 4-2 (2-1 in CC) this season. Hopkins returns to action in 2013 with a visit to Messiah College.
