Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Senior Caroline Murphy (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) scored 21 points, but the Gettysburg College women's basketball team lost by a final of 61-55 in a key Centennial Conference women's basketball match-up Wednesday evening in Bream Gymnasium.

After trailing by as much as nine, the Bullets (14-7, 9-6 CC) pulled to within two points with just over four minutes left. However, the conference-leading Blue Jays answered with the next five points, and Gettysburg was unable to get closer than four the rest of the way.

The Bullets now finds themselves tied with Muhlenberg College for fourth place in the Centennial Conference standings with three games remaining. The top-five teams qualify for the conference playoffs.

Senior Alyssa Isler (New Hope, Pa./New Hope-Solebury) contributed 12 points for Gettysburg while sophomore Emily Duggan (Marmora, N.J./Ocean City) grabbed seven rebounds.

Katie Clark registered 21 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists to lead Hopkins (16-6, 13-3 CC) while Liz Tommasi added 11 points. Alyssa Fleming contributed 10 points for the Blue Jays, who played without leading scorer Fatu Conteh.

After four ties and three lead changes over the opening eight minutes of the game, the Bullets opened up some breathing room, pushing their lead to seven on two occasions, the last coming on a Murphy lay-up with 6:52 left. But the Blue Jays climbed back into it with a 7-0 run and eventually took the lead on a Clark jumper with 41 seconds remaining in the opening period and giving the visitors a 25-24 lead at the intermission.

Hopkins never trailed in the second half after scoring the first four points of the stanza. The Jays extended their lead to 45-36 after a 3-pointer from Tommasi with 10:22 remaining, but the Bullets answered with a 6-0 surge, with Murphy scoring four points along the way. Isler dropped in a pair of free throws with 5:05 left to make it 51-48 before freshman Sara Graham (Pottstown, Pa./The Hill School) made it a two-point game with her foul shot at the 4:10 mark. However, Fleming nailed a big 3-pointer with 2:27 left to push Hopkins' lead back to five.

Murphy drew Gettysburg to within four on a pair of foul shots with 43 second left before Tomassi hit two of her at the stripe nine seconds later. Isler connected on a fast-break jumper from the right corner with 28 ticks showing, but Fleming put the game out of reach when she went 2-for-2 at the line with 23 seconds to go.

Gettysburg returns to action on Saturday, when it hosts Haverford College at 4 p.m. on Senior Day and another Centennial Conference tilt.