Tuesday night, the women’s basketball team began their playoff run with the hope of extending their three-game winning streak to end the regular season. Hosting their the play-in game, the Jays took on the fifth-ranked Ursinus College Bears in the first round of the Centennial Conference Tournament.
The Blue Jays would go on to win the game by a final score of 62-56 to make it to the semifinals of the Conference Tournament against the Gettysburg College Bullets. The Blue Jays were led by junior guard Lillian Scott, the team’s leading scorer, who contributed 13 points for her third consecutive double digit scoring game.
The women’s basketball team began their playoff run last Tuesday night with the hope of extending their three-game win streak to end the regular season. The Jays hosted the fifth-ranked Ursinus College Bears in the first round of the Centennial Conference Tournament.
The Blue Jays would go on to win the game by a final score of 62-56 to make it to the semifinals of the Conference Tournament against the Gettysburg College Bullets. The Blue Jays were led by junior guard Lillian Scott, the team’s leading scorer, who contributed 13 points for her third consecutive double digit scoring game.
If she keeps her numbers up through the remainder of the season, it will be the second straight year she has led the team in scoring. Not only has Scott’s recent success on the scoreboard been a help to the team, but her leadership throughout the season makes her especially deserving of this week’s Athlete of the Week.
In her sophomore year, Scott was third in the Centennial Conference in scoring, at 15.6 points per game. She was named to the All-Centennial Conference Second Team and was second in the Conference in three-point shooting percentage, at 38.5 percent.
This year, opposing teams have made it a point to focus on shutting down Scott, but she is still averaging 14 points per game to put her in the top 10 in the Conference.
With the Blue Jays’ next game coming up against Gettysburg, Scott will look back on fond memories, as the best game of her college career came against Gettysburg on February 1, 2017.
That game was looking bleak for the Jays at halftime, at which point they were down 40-30 and Scott had only six points. But in the second half, Scott caught fire, scoring 24 points, including a three to force overtime. In overtime, Scott scored seven of the team’s 12 points to push the Jays to a 84-83 victory.
Despite the win, the Bullets eventually eliminated the Jays in the playoffs, so Hopkins will be looking to return the favor in this year’s Conference Tournament.
The News-Letter: What has been the key to the team’s success during your four-game win streak?
Lillian Scott: The biggest key to the win streak has been a high level of team basketball. On both sides of the court, our entire team has been very locked in and displays tremendous mental and physical effort. It is great that we have momentum heading into playoffs this week.
N-L: You’ve been one of the leading scorers for the team both during this streak and throughout the season as a whole. What contributes to your success this season?
LS: I try not to focus too much on how much I score but rather on my effort on defense. I have found that playing great defense often provides the energy I need to be aggressive on the offensive end, and I trust that everything will fall into place.
N-L: You also led the team in scoring last season. What differences have you noticed between last year and this year?
LS: Last year, I had the element of surprise on my side, since it was the first time teams really ever had to play against me. This year, teams have more experience and film to watch on how to guard me, so it’s forced me to find new ways to adapt and score. My coaches this year have also helped me a lot in finding new ways to finish even when I’m being heavily guarded.
N-L: With no seniors on the team, what kind of an adjustment have you made as a leader this year?
LS: Since we have no seniors, we juniors have the most experience on the team. While we each lead in our own ways, I try to help the team by helping to instruct my teammates in practice and being vocal on the court during games.
N-L: The team managed to overcome a fourth quarter deficit in this most recent game against Ursinus. What was the team’s attitude that allowed you to come back?
LS: We were very resilient and remained calm even when we found ourselves down late in the game. I think this is a testament to the trust we have in each other to make important plays in pressure situations.
N-L: How will the team look to beat Gettysburg in the Conference semifinals, especially since they were the team that eliminated you from the Conference Tournament last year?
LS: Gettysburg is a great team, and we will need to spend a lot of time over the next few days watching film and working hard in practice, so we will be ready to face them.
N-L: The highest scoring game of your career came last year against Gettysburg. How will you look to replicate that type of success for yourself in this coming game?
LS: I’m going to focus on playing great defense first and then being aggressive offensively and trusting that my teammates will look to put me in the best position to score while I do the same for them.
Catch Scott and the rest of the Jays on Friday when they take on the Bullets at 6 p.m. in Gettysburg, Pa.
