BALTIMORE, Md. – The Ursinus College women's basketball team was unable to secure a season sweep of Johns Hopkins, as the host Blue Jays took control early and never let up on the way to a 64-50 Centennial Conference verdict this afternoon.
Senior forward Jessica Porada posted her third double-double of the season – and the 25th of her career – with 14 points and 10 rebounds to lead Ursinus (7-8, 6-3), which was bidding for the first sweep of the Blue Jays in program history. The Bears snapped a nine-game skid in the series with a 50-49 victory back on December 5, but Johns Hopkins (6-8, 4-4) made sure history did not repeat itself, putting a sizeable distance between the teams in the first quarter.
Ursinus trailed just 7-6 after a 3-pointer by Porada – her first of the season and only the fifth triple of her career – before the Blue Jays closed the opening period on a 14-4 spurt that featured two treys and a three-point play from Beatriz Williams. Hopkins' senior forward scored 11 of her game-high 16 points in the first ten minutes, after which the home side led 21-10.
The Bears got back within single digits at the 4:08 mark of the second quarter, when junior guard Olivia Kane hit a 3-pointer to make it a 29-20 Hopkins lead. But Ursinus didn't score again until senior guard Alyssa Polimeni nailed a trey three minutes into the third quarter, by which time Johns Hopkins had rolled out 11 unanswered markers to open up a 40-20 advantage.
The lead grew as large as 23 late in the third period, and although the Bears got as close as 11 (58-47) on a free throw by sophomore forward Allie Cook with 3:18 to play, the Blue Jays were threatened no further.
Williams registered a double-double with 11 rebounds, and Katie Clark finished with 12 points and six assists for Johns Hopkins, which won its third straight game. The Blue Jays shot 6 of 12 (50.0 percent) from behind the arc.
Polimeni had 11 points and seven boards for Ursinus, which shot just 30.6 percent from the field (19 of 62) in absorbing its third consecutive loss. Senior forward Elana Roadcloud fell just short of a double-double, pairing ten caroms with a season-best nine points; she also distributed a team-high three assists in her fifth double-digit rebounding effort in the last six games.
Porada, the Centennial Conference's active leader in double-doubles, moved past Deb Martin (1988-91) and into fifth place on the program's all-time scoring list (1,252) with her 14-point afternoon.
Ursinus next travels to Haverford for a league contest with the Fords on Wednesday, January 20.