Blue Jays explode in second half to snap McDaniel's 17-game winning streak

WESTMINSTER, Md. - Ten of Katie Biggart's 12 points came in the decisive second half, helping Johns Hopkins overcome a 12-point halftime deficit and defeat McDaniel 65-60 in Centennial Conference (CC) women's basketball action on Friday.

Katelyn Fischer (Reisterstown, Md./Seton Keough) and Ali Moreland (Davidsonville, Md./South River) combined for 33 points to lead the Green Terror (17-5, 15-3 CC), who had its 17-game winning streak snapped and fell for the first time since a 51-49 setback to Swarthmore on Dec. 1.

Fischer netted 15 of her team-high 17 before halftime while Moreland tallied 12 of her 14 in the first 20 minutes. Ashley Lyles (Laurel, Md./St. Vincent Pallotti) added 16 points for McDaniel, tallying of 10 at the free-throw line.

Lyndsay Burton led the Blue Jays (12-8, 10-6 CC) with 17 points.

Trailing 38-26 at the intermission after the Green Terror tallied the final five points of the first half, Johns Hopkins reeled off 10 of the period's first 13 points to close within 41-38 with just 3:48 elapsed.

Triples from Biggart and Britni Lonesome keyed the half-opening run.

Two Sally Grace (Catonsville, Md./Mount de Sales Academy) free throws - her only two points of the game - with 13:37 to play gave the hosts a 46-40 lead but Chantel Mattiola hit a jumper on the ensuing Blue Jay possession to spark a 9-2 burst that gave the Blue Jays their first lead of the game at 49-48 with 9:43 on the clock.

A Burton layup and two Mitchell free throws stretched the lead to five, capping a 13-2 stretch.

A Cara Thompson (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown) baseline jumper with 2:22 on the clock evened the game at 55 before a single Siobhan Callanan free throw gave Johns Hopkins a one-point advantage with 1:53 showing.

Two Lyles free throws gave the hosts a 60-59 advantage 10 seconds later but a Mattiola layup on the ensuing Blue Jay possession gave her team the lead for good.

Biggart drove down the lane and hit a layup with 14.6 seconds on the clock to stretch the lead to three and the Green Terror could not get a good look at a game-tying attempt before Biggart corralled the rebound and hit two free throw with 2.9 seconds on the clock to set the final margin.

McDaniel scored the game's first five points and built a 12-2 lead 5 minutes, 7 seconds into the game behind seven points from Fischer.

Eight straight points from Johns Hopkins closed the deficit to two.

The Blue Jays trimmed the deficit to 16-15 before Moreland hit a layup at the 10:09 mark and canned a pair of 3-pointer to key a 15-6 stretch that pushed the lead back to double figures.

A Burton jumper with 5:46 to play in the opening half was the last field goal by either team until Burton hit a layup on the break to pull Johns Hopkins within 33-26 with 56 seconds to play in the stanza.

A Catherine Mills (Ijamsville, Md./Urbana) layup and Fischer triple 15 seconds apart stretched the lead to 12 at the intermission.

Burton capped a double-double performance with 14 rebounds for the Blue Jays, who finished with a 41-26 advantage on the glass.

The Green Terror, who shot 13-for-24 in the first half, converted just four of its 20 second-half attempts from the floor.

McDaniel returns to action at Ursinus on Saturday. Game time is 1 p.m.

-30-