The Hopkins women’s basketball team could not overcome a slow start Tuesday against the Gettysburg Bullets, and they fell 63-54 on the road for just their second loss of the season.
The Lady Jays struggled to find any form of consistency in their home matchup against the Gettysburg Bullets. The defense was able to prevent the Bullets offense from dominating in the paint and as a result, Gettysburg took a large lead early into the game. This slow start turned out to be the biggest difference and allowed for the Bullets to take a double-digit lead into the locker room at halftime.
The main proponents of the Lady Jays’ demise came at the hands of a very talented trio of Gettysburg players. Senior forward Jenna Swope, junior forward Jessica Porter and junior forward Emily Gibbons combined for 25 of the Bullets’ 31 first half points and left Hopkins on the end of a 31-19 disadvantage at halftime.
Unable to find an answer defensively for the Gettysburg trio, the Lady Jays were playing from behind all night. Buoyed by the hot shooting of Swope, Porter and Gibbons, who alone outscored the Jays in the first half, Gettysburg took a comfortable 12-point lead into halftime.
Hopkins struggled on the offensive end in the first half as well, committing nine turnovers and converting on just 33 percent of its field goal attempts, including shooting a dreadful 0-6 from three-point range.
Junior forward Beatriz Williams started the scoring for the Lady Jays in the second half, answering a Gibbons three pointer with a layup, but Porter converted on a jumper and Gibbons knocked in yet another triple to push the Bullets’ lead to 16.
A furious Lady Jay run cut the Gettysburg lead to just 10 — 56-46 — midway through the second half, and junior guard Liz Tommasi drained a three followed by a two-point jumper from senior forward Haley Bush to really put the pressure on the Bullets, who were only up five with still 2:50 to play.
Gettysburg was up to the challenge, though, as junior forward Emily Duggan answered with a three-point play that pushed the Bullet lead to eight. The Lady Jays refused to give in, and Tommasi slashed through the lane for a layup to make it a six-point game with 2:08 remaining on the clock.
Williams could not hit a jumper following a Lady Jay timeout that would have slashed the Lady Jay deficit to four, and Gibbons took advantage with a dagger of a jumper with just a minute left to play. Gettysburg sealed the deal with excellent free throw shooting down the stretch after some desperation fouls from Hopkins.
Williams filled up the stat sheet on Tuesday, putting up 16 points to go with five rebounds and two blocks. The strong start to the season continued for Bush, as she turned in 10 points and seven rebounds and was a major force on the defensive end with her three blocks.
The Lady Jays could not overcome Gibbons’s 24 points, including 4-6 shooting from three-point range, and 10 rebounds. Porter also contributed a double-double for the Bullets, chipping in 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Despite the tough loss, the Lady Jays have excelled in the beginning portion of the season, notching a 4-2 record overall, including a 3-1 record in Centennial Conference play. The Lady Jays will look to continue to spread the wealth in terms of scoring, as Bush, Williams and junior guard Katie Clark all notched double-digit point efforts for Hopkins in the loss.
Hopkins women’s basketball will return to action on Saturday, playing against Muhlenberg in the Goldfarb Gymnasium with a 2 p.m. tip-off. The Lady Jays will look to get back on track in conference play after suffering their first conference loss of the season. The Mules are 2-3 so far on the season, with a 1-1 record in conference play, giving the Lady Jays the slight edge heading into the weekend matchup.
