WESTMINSTER, Md. – For the sixth time this season, McDaniel rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit to record a victory, defeating Johns Hopkins 51-48 in Centennial Conference (CC) women's basketball on Wednesday.

Lindsey Nichols (Wilmington, Del./St. Mark's) led the Green Terror (18-4, 13-2 CC) with 21 points. With the victory and a Haverford loss to Muhlenberg, McDaniel clinched not only a CC playoff berth but a first-round bye in the five-team playoffs.

Liz Tommasi paced the Blue Jays (9-11, 6-8 CC) with 11 points while Rachel Cook added 10 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.

Trailing 36-35, Sarah Bach (Manchester, Md./Manchester Valley) hit a layup with 9:06 to play, sparking an 11-0 run that spanned the next 5 minutes, 41 seconds.

Brittney Davis (Laurel, Md./St. Vincent Pallotti) and Nichols each hit 3-pointers during the game-changing stretch.

Trailing 49-39 with 2:14 to play, a pair of Marissa Varnado jumpers keyed a 9-1 burst that closed the deficit to 50-48 with 5.6 seconds remaining.

One Jasmine Smith (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore Polytechnic Institute) free throw with 1.2 seconds on the clock sealed the victory.

Johns Hopkins held McDaniel to 0-for-20 shooting in the first quarter but was only able to build a 7-0 lead over the first 10 minutes. The Blue Jays did not score until Beatriz Williams hit a layup with 7:13 on the clock. Two Tommasi free throws with 5:04 showing doubled the lead before Williams hit the only other field goal of the period with just 18 ticks remaining.

Johns Hopkins stretched the lead as large as eight on a Cook jumper that made it 13-5 with 7:52 showing before Davis drained a triple to spark an 8-0 run.

A Nichols trey gave the hosts a 19-18 edge with 2:58 to play en route to a 23-20 halftime advantage.

Davis finished with nine points, six rebounds and five assists while Smith added eight points and seven rebounds.

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

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