COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's basketball team ended a lengthy drought against Johns Hopkins in dramatic fashion this afternoon, overturning a four-point deficit in the final three minutes to leave Helfferich Hall with a 50-49 victory in a tense, back-and-forth battle. Senior forward Jessica Porada (Morristown, N.J./Morris Catholic) carried the day with 24 points and 14 rebounds for the Bears, who improved to 4-0 in Centennial Conference play for the first time since 1996-97 and snapped a nine-game skid in the series. The triumph was Ursinus' first against the Blue Jays since 2011, and its first in Collegeville since 2008.
A nip-and-tuck affair highlighted by nine ties and 11 lead changes reached a crescendo in the waning minutes. With Ursinus (4-3, 4-0) trailing 47-43 with 3:02 to play, senior forward Caroline Shimrock (Landale, Pa./Gwynedd-Mercy Academy ) got a friendly roll on a 3-pointer from the right wing and, after Johns Hopkins misfired on the other end, Porada drove baseline and finished to hand the Bears a 48-47 edge with 2:04 left.
The teams exchanged empty trips before junior guard Libby Lannon (Aston, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) wrestled with a Johns Hopkins (2-4, 1-2) player to earn a critical defensive rebound with 40 seconds to play. With the shot clock running down on the other end, senior guard Alyssa Polimeni (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) drew the defense and dished off to Porada, who buried a jumper from the left side to make it 50-47 with 14.6 ticks left. The Blue Jays missed everything on a potential tying 3, but got another chance when Ursinus missed two free throws. Needing a triple to force overtime, Blue Jays senior forward Beatriz Williams drove to the basket for a layup as time expired, leaving the visitors a point short.
Freshman guard Sophia Way led Johns Hopkins with 13 points, who saw 10 players score in a typically balanced display for a squad that entered without a double-digit scorer. The Bears held the Blue Jays, who rank at the bottom of the CC in scoring, right at their season average of 48.4 points; Johns Hopkins went 0-for-9 from the 3-point line in the second half and just 1-of-12 for the game.
Porada's double-double was her second of the season and the 25th of her career; she was 10-of-23 from the field and 4-of-5 at the foul line, also contributing an assist and two steals. After a three-game tear in which she averaged 20.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 6.7 assists, Polimeni was limited to six points, but the senior made up for it with eight assists, including the helper on Porada's eventual game-winner. Senior forward Elana Roadcloud (Roslyn, Pa./Springside School) collected six points and seven rebounds, and Shimrock scored seven points.
The teams traded punches and counterpunches throughout a tight first half, traversing five ties and eight lead changes until the Blue Jays closed the second stanza on a 6-0 run to take a 27-23 lead into the locker rooms despite a substantial deficiency in shot attempts. The Bears attempted 32 field goals to the Blue Jays' 18, but Johns Hopkins finished the period at a 44.4-percent clip (8-of-18) while the home side struggled, connecting on just 28.1 percent of their efforts (9-of-32). Ursinus forced 10 turnovers from the CC's most mistake-prone group (21.7 turnovers per game) in the first half, but the Blue Jays went 10-for-12 at the line.
Porada kept the Bears close, leading all scorers with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting; her teammates were a combined 5-of-25 (20.0%) in the first two quarters. Nine different players got into the first-half scorebook for the balanced Blue Jays, who came in without a double-figure scorer.
Ursinus turned the tables right out of the break, scoring the first 10 points of the third quarter and holding the Blue Jays without a point for the first 5:31. But Johns Hopkins flipped a switch from there, uncorking eight unanswered points of their own and restoring a four-point advantage (39-35) heading into the fourth. The margin stayed there until the final three minutes, when the Bears took over on the way to their fourth straight win.
Ursinus puts its four-game winning streak to the test against Cabrini in a non-conference tilt set for 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 10.