THE FACTS
Gettysburg (15-6, 12-4 CC) 66, Johns Hopkins (17-5, 14-3 CC) 54
What: Centennial Conference (CC) women's basketball game
When: Thursday, Feb. 9
Where: Baltimore, Md.
THE SKINNY STORY
Trailing by 10 at the break, Gettysburg completely flipped the script on Johns Hopkins in the second half to record a 66-54 victory in a critical Centennial Conference matchup for conference seeding.
THE LEADERS
•
Mackenzie Szlosek (Holtsville, N.Y./Sachem East) led the Bullets with a game-high 20 points. She also had five assists and five rebounds, playing all 40 minutes.
•
Emily Violante (Easton, Pa./Easton Area) and
Alayna Arnolie (Vienna, Va./James Madison) finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
•
AB Holsinger (Crozet, Va./Langley) put together a personal 7-0 run as part of her nine points to give her team its first lead of the game early in the fourth quarter.
FOR THE FOES
• Jadyn Murray led the Blue Jays with 14 points.
THE REST OF THE STORY
• Johns Hopkins jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the game's first 3:05, including scoring directly off the opening tip and twice off turnovers in the backcourt. An
Emily Violante layup took the cap off the basket for Gettysburg with 6:43 on the clock. After two Kristin Ralston free throws pushed the lead back to seven, a
Mackenzie Szlosek three-point play sparked a 7-0 burst that tied the game at 10-all with 3:34 remaining. The Blue Jays opened up a 19-15 edge before two
Cynthia Williams (North Brunswick, N.J./Hill School) free throws with 49.1 seconds left cut the deficit to two after one period.
• Keyed by four points from Olivia Parisi, Johns Hopkins scored the first eight points of the second quarter to open up a 27-17 lead with 6:40 showing. An
AB Holsinger pull-up jumper snapped a 5-minute, 44-second cold spell from the floor. Trailing 32-21 after a Kendall Dunham 3-pointer from the wing,
Alayna Arnolie hit a layup and Szlosek drained a triple from the corner to trim the margin to six with 3:04 to play but Hopkins scored the final four of the half to take a 36-26 lead into the break.
• Gettysburg scored the first five points of the second half, cutting the deficit in half before two minutes had elapsed. An Arnolie elbow jumper eventually closed the margin to 41-37 with 5:21 showing but Parisi responded to push the lead back to six at the other end. The teams traded baskets until Szlosek found
Shinya Lee (Rochester, N.Y./Holderness Prep School) under the basket and then finished on the break to make it a 47-45 game in the final 40 seconds. After a jump ball gave the hosts the ball back with seven ticks remaining, Kara Milliken connected on a second-chance jumper to push the lead back to four after three quarters.
• Jadyn Murray scored on the hosts' first possession of the fourth quarter to stretch the lead to six before seven straight points from Holsinger gave Gettysburg its first lead of the game with 6:25 remaining. Six points from Violante and a Szlosek pull-up jumper expanded the run to 15 straight and 60-51 to finally force a Johns Hopkins timeout with 3:10 on the clock. An Elisabeth Peebles steal-and-layup snapped a nearly nine-minute scoreless drought for the Blue Jays and made it a 64-53 game en route to the 12-point final margin.
THE INSIDE STORY
• Gettysburg officially clinched a playoff spot with the victory, remaining in position for a home game and potential opening-round bye.
• The Bullets, who found themselves in foul trouble for most of the first half, committed just four second-half fouls and shot 69.2 percent from the floor. The defense held Johns Hopkins to just 24.2 percent after halftime, including 2 of 14 in the fourth quarter.
NEXT UP
Gettysburg returns to action at Haverford on Saturday. Game time is 1 p.m.
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