After starting the season with a 2-1 record, the women’s basketball team entered the weekend coming off of a 29-point victory. The team attempted to build on that dominating performance in their game on Sunday, Nov. 14 against Marymount University.
Previously, Hopkins was 4-10 against the Marymount Saints and had lost in their last three meetings. Additionally, the Saints were 2-0 before this game, so the Blue Jays couldn’t simply brush them off. The game was played at a neutral location in Owings Mills, Md.
The game started off well for Hopkins, with freshman forward Greta Miller scoring the first two points of the game. But as expected, Marymount put up a fight and scored right back. However, five minutes into the game, the Blue Jays were doubling the Saints with a score of 12-6. By the end of the first quarter, the score was much closer: 20-17 with Hopkins in the lead.
In an interview with The News-Letter, Miller discussed her contributions to the team as a freshman.
“It means a lot to be trusted by my coaches and teammates to compete throughout the game,” she said. “Their encouragement and support help me do my best to help the team win. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season and what we can accomplish together.”
The second quarter began with another strong performance from the Jays. Senior guard Diarra Oden began the scoring with a two-pointer. After a few minutes, Hopkins went on an 8-0 run to bring the score to 28-17. This run proved emblematic of the quarter as a whole, as Hopkins ended up outscoring Marymount 22-11 in the second. Going into halftime, the score was already 42-28.
It would have been excusable for Hopkins to take the pedal off of the gas with a 14-point lead. But instead, the team continued the trend of strong starts in each quarter. A three-pointer from Oden set the Jays off. Halfway through the quarter, the score was still 45-29. Although Marymount put up a few more points, Hopkins ended on an 11-0 run, finishing the quarter 62-36.
At this point, the game seemed out of reach for the Saints. The Blue Jays held Marymount to seven points in the fourth quarter while scoring 17 themselves. Junior forward Kara Milliken scored the final point for Hopkins and the score ended at 79-43.
Miller talked about what the team learned from such a dominant win.
“We are starting to see what is working for us,” she said in an interview with The News-Letter. “When we can lock in on defense, good things happen. We struggled a bit scoring in our first two games, but the Stevenson Tournament showed that we can be an offensively dominant team.”
This was the largest margin of victory that Hopkins has ever had against Marymount, and it broke their three-game losing streak against the Saints. Oden led with 23 points and Miller put in 14 of her own. Junior guard Emily Howie helped out with seven assists and freshman forward Michaela O’Neil had a team-high eight rebounds.
Miller discussed the team’s plan for upcoming games.
“We are gearing up for our conference opponents, focusing on what we can control and do well,” she said. “We take pride in our defensive identity and plan to continue it throughout conference play.”
This brought the team’s record to 3-1. Next, the Blue Jays will begin Centennial-Conference play against Muhlenberg College on Saturday in Allentown, Pa.
