For the Hopkins women’s basketball team, this weekend showcased the magnificent season they have had. The season jumped off to a great start for the team, as they won their first 11 Centennial contests to position themselves to do something special.
The Centennial Conference Tournament arrived this weekend at Haverford College, and the Hopkins women made sure to leave their mark in what was a hard fought weekend.
Before dreams of a championship could be realized, the team had to first get over a hurdle they had yet to conquer this season: the Green Terror of McDaniel College. After dropping the first two meetings to McDaniel, this time around was sure to be different with the stakes so high. Of note for the Jays this weekend was the absence of senior starter and team leader, Fatu Conteh, who was battling an injury.
The third matchup of the season between these two in-state rivals proved to be a game worth the price of admission. A back and forth battle throughout, Hopkins was down just one point with a little over 10 minutes to go in the contest.
From there, sophomore guard Liz Tommasi decided to take the game into her own hands, jump starting a 12-0 run for the Jays. Tommasi scored the next six points for the Jays to push the lead to 52-47, and from there the win was inevitable.
After baskets from sophomore Katie Clark and junior Maggie Fruehan, Hopkins stretched the lead to nine points with just under seven to go. Once the 12-0 run had run its course, Hopkins had stretched the lead to 58-47.
One of the key factors to victory for the Jays in this one was the rebounding margin, which they dominated to the tune of 52-24. When the final buzzer sounded, it was the team from Baltimore in the win column for the first time this season with a final score 66-55.
Two key contributors for the Jays were Tommasi and junior Ciara McCullagh. Tommasi finished with a career-high 22 points while McCullagh dominated the paint, chipping in 20 points and 13 rebounds. 18 of Tommasi’s 22 points were recorded in the second half.
Next up for the Jays were the Haverford Fords in the Centennial Conference Championship game.
The Fords posed quite the task for the Jays. As the number one seed, Haverford had a record of 22-3 heading into the final and home court advantage on their side. At the end of the first half, Hopkins played like a team that needed to find themselves quickly with the score reading Haverford 41-27.
However, after making the necessary halftime adjustments, Hopkins started the opening half off with a 7-2 run to get back on track and make the game interesting. In the waning minutes of the game, the lead had been cut down by more than half from the mid-way point, and Hopkins found themselves down 60-54 with 1:31 left. That was the closest the contest would get though, and Hopkins was not able to pull this one into the win column. The final score was Haverford 66 and Hopkins 56.
Clark and Tommasi paced the Jays in the finale with Clark scoring 20 points and Tommasi 15.
Although the loss was a tough pill to swallow, Hopkins has many things to be excited about in the future. Only one senior will be lost, which means the vast majority of the team will be ready to roll to a championship next season. When asked about the past weekend and the season as a whole, Clark offered a bright outlook on the future and was thankful for such a wonderful season.
“I am so proud of how hard our team has worked this year even to make it to the championship game,” Clark said. “Even in the midst of difficult points throughout the season, we pulled together and responded well. Although it wasn’t the end result we that we wanted, it doesn’t take away from the success that we did have this year and only gives us more determination for next year.”
