WESTMINSTER, Md. – In a game with seven ties and six lead changes and one in which neither team led by more than eight points, Johns Hopkins made the final run to notch a 67-64 Centennial Conference (CC) women's basketball victory over McDaniel on Thursday.

Emma Wingerd (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) led the Green Terror (3-4, 2-2 CC) with a season-best 14 points while Rachael Rybak (Reisterstown, Md./Franklin) and Steph Perez (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin East) added 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Alex Vassila paced the Blue Jays (4-6, 2-4 CC) with a double-double, recording 18 points and 12 rebounds. Liz Tommasi added 18 points while Stacy Fairey contributed 16.

Trailing 56-54 on a Codi McMaster (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) free throw with 5:39 to play, Vassila responded 24 seconds later with a putback to knot the game at 56-all.

After a minute and a half without either team scoring, Vassila put home a jumper in the paint to give the visitors the lead for good.

A Fairey three-point play 48 seconds later stretched the lead to 61-56 before Rybak canned a 16-footer to trim the deficit to three on the ensuing McDaniel possession.

Two Tommasi free throws with 1:54 to play stretched the lead back to five before Allie Eader (Ijamsville, Md./Linganore) hit a 3-pointer in the corner for her only points of the night to make it a 63-61 game with 1:44 to play.

A single Fairey free throw pushed the lead back to three before Tommasi hit one from the charity stripe with 20.5 seconds showing to push the lead to four.

After a missed 3-pointer, Fairey hit two more from the line with 5.4 seconds on the clock before Wingerd hit a 28-footer at the buzzer to set the final score.

Back-to-back Tommasi layups after a Perez triple cut the deficit to 8-7 early gave Johns Hopkins a five-point edge just 5:52 into the game.

Trailing 19-14, McMaster hit two free throws with 10:37 on the clock and Perez hit the second of her three first-half 3-pointers to even the game at 19-all with 9:59 showing.

Wingerd added a triple of her own, Brittney Davis (Laurel, Md./St. Vincent Pallotti) hit a jumper and Stephanie Fish (Brick, N.J./Brick Memorial) canned the second of two free throws to cap an 11-0 run over a 1-minute, 57-second span and give the hosts a six-point edge.

The Blue Jays responded with an 11-0 run of their own that Tommasi sparked with a three-point play, putting the visitors back in front 30-25 with 5:09 showing.

A Fairey 3-pointer and Vassila jumper gave Johns Hopkins its largest lead of the game at 35-27 a minute later.

A Wingerd jumper made it a 39-37 game at the break before three points from Fairey and two from Vassila stretched the lead back to seven with 17:40 remaining.

The Green Terror reeled off the next seven points, however, to draw even once again with 15:03 showing.

Lauren Ballenger (Silver Spring, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel) responded to a Tommasi layup with two free throws, knotting the game at 50-all with 11:11 on the clock before both teams went ice cold from the floor.

Neither team scored from the field until Perez hit a jumper with 6:39 showing, giving her team a 53-52 advantage.

Two Lindsey Nichols (Wilmington, Del./St. Mark's) free throws pushed the lead to three before the Blue Jays had the game's final run to win it.

Davis added five assists while Perez dished out four. Davis also nabbed a career-high six steals. Rybak added four swipes while Wingerd and McMaster had three each for the Green Terror, which entered the game ranked No. 2 in Division III at 18.33 steals per game. McDaniel had 20 as a team on Thursday.

The Green Terror returns to action at Bryn Mawr on Saturday. Game time is 2 p.m.

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