Baltimore, Md. – Morina Bojka (Prospect, Conn.) led three Knights in double-figures as the Mount Saint Mary College Women's Basketball team scored the seventh NCAA Tournament victory in program history with a hard fought 57-54 First Round win at Johns Hopkins Friday night.
Friday's win was the Mount's 12
th straight overall and improves it to 24-3 overall on the season. Johns Hopkins sees is season conclude with a 22-5 overall record.
First Half
- The Blue Jays got off to a fast start, scoring seven of the first nine points of the game.
- After a Katie Smith (Goshen, N.Y.) jumper knotted the score at 2-2, Johns Hopkins scored the next five points, including a Diarra Oden three-pointer, to open a 7-2 advantage.
- Johns Hopkins spread its lead to 11 points following an 8-0 spurt that featured three-pointers from Christine Corpuz and Oden.
- The Blue Jays matched the 11-point advantage on a Halie Egan conversion to give Johns Hopkins a 17-6 lead before an Annie Keenan (Nesconset, N.Y.) triple brought the Mount back to within 17-9 after 10 minutes of play.
- Shannon Phelan (Tappan, N.Y.) sliced the deficit to 17-11 on a bucket to open the scoring in the second quarter.
- Johns Hopkins spread its lead back to double-figures on an Oden lay-up with 6:16 left and moved in front by 12 points, at 26-14, following a Kristin Ralston lay-in with five minutes left before halftime.
- Mount Saint Mary climbed back to within 30-25 on a Bojka jumper at the 1:45 mark and trimmed the disadvantage to 30-27 with 1:11 left in the second frame.
- The Blue Jays answered with an Erin Walsh conversion in the final minute to close out the scoring in the half and send Johns Hopkins into the break with a 32-27 advantage.
- Mount Saint Mary shot 35.7-percent in the opening half and went 3-for-9 from three-point range.
- The Blue Jays shot a blistering 53.8-percent overall and went 4-for-12 from three-point range.
- Keenan led the Knights before the break with nine points.
- Oden led all scorers for Johns Hopkins with 13 first half tallies.
Second Half
- Mount Saint Mary scored the first nine points of the third period to grab it first lead of the contest. Lauren Desrats (Warwick, N.Y.) gave the Mount its first advantage, at 34-32, on a jumper with 6:46 left in the quarter before Bojka capped the run with a bucket to give the Knights a 36-32 lead at the 4:32 mark of the frame.
- The Blue Jays battled back to knot the score at 38-38 on a Natalie Mann three-pointer with 2:09 left and regained a 41-40 lead on a Rolston conversion with 70 seconds left in the quarter.
- The Knights answered with a Bojka jumper in the final minute to take a slim 42-41 advantage in the final stanza.
- Bojka opened the fourth period scoring with a triple that pushed the Knights in front 45-41.
- The advantage grew to 48-41 on an Erin Smith (Goshen, N.Y.) triple at the 8:48 mark of the final period.
- Mount Saint Mary matched its largest lead of the game when a K. Smith jumper pushed the Mount to a 52-45 lead with 6:49 left in regulation time.
- The Knights gained a seven-point advantage on one other occasion when an Asia Rivera (Saddle Brook, N.J.) bucket moved the Mount in front 54-47 with just under four minutes left to play.
- Johns Hopkins mounted one final charge, pulling to within two points on three occasions in the final 2:19, but the Knights converted a free-throw following each time to close out the final three-point victory.
- Mount Saint Mary closed the second half shooting 34.3-percent and connected on three more triples.
- Johns Hopkins cooled to 22.6-percent shooting after halftime, including a 2-for-15 effort from three-pint range.
- Bojka finished the second half with 11 points for the Knights.
- Oden added eight points for the Blue Jays after halftime.
For The Knights
- Bojka finished the contest 6-for-15 from the floor on her way to the team-high point total, adding six rebounds and a pair of assists.
- Keenan had a big night for the Mount, scoring 14 points, going 5-for-11 from the floor including 3-for-3 from three-point range.
- K. Smith closed the victory with 11 points, three rebounds and three assists.
- Rivera led the way with four steals and contributed four rebounds.
For The Blue Jays
- Oden led all players with 21 points on 7-for-21 shooting. She finished a big night with eight rebounds, two assists and four steals.
- Greta Miller led all players with 13 rebounds.
- Jadyn Murray hauled in 10 boards and chipped in four points and three blocks.
- Corpuz totaled seven points and led all players with four assists.
Game Statistics
- Mount Saint Mary shot 34.9-percent overall in the game and went 6-for-18 from three-point range.
- Johns Hopkins shot 36.8-percent overall and went 6-for-27 from three-point range.
- Mount Saint Mary forced 23 turnovers and turned those into a 18-7 edge in points off of miscues.
- The Knights posted a 10-7 advantage in second chance scoring and a 28-24 edge in paint points.
What's Next
- The Mount will take on #1 Christopher Newport in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament Saturday at 6:00 p.m.
Game Notes: Friday's game was the first on record with Johns Hopkins…Friday's victory was the Mount's seventh NCAA win in program history…The Knights faced Christopher Newport in the Second Round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
