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Darling Leads Hopkins Past McDaniel, 82-58 For Centennial Title
March 1, 2003
BALTIMORE, MD - Senior center Kathy Darling (Milford, DE/Milford) scored a game-high 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Johns Hopkins women's basketball team to an 82-58 win over McDaniel in the Centennial Conference Championship game this afternoon in Goldfarb Gymnasium.
Junior guard Maureen Myers (Waverly, PA/Abington Heights) added 17 points as Hopkins won its fourth Centennial Conference title and first since the 2000 season. The Blue Jays, who improved to 21-5 with their 10th straight win, have secured a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in nine seasons. The NCAA will announce seeds and game times Sunday night at 9:30 p.m.
Senior forward Jen Piccolomini (Shepherdstown, WV/St. Maria Goretti) scored a team-high 22 points for defending Centennial Champion McDaniel, which fell to 19-8 on the season.
The Green Terror led 9-6 following a free throw by Piccolomini, but Hopkins went on a 17-5 run to take a 23-14 lead at the 10:20 mark of the first half. Myers assisted on a short jumper by Darling that capped the spurt. McDaniel scored the next eight points to cut the margin to 23-22 before JHU answered with a 10-0 run to take control at 33-22 with 3:45 remaining. Hopkins would take a 42-33 advantage into the break.
The Blue Jays opened the second half with an 11-4 run in the first five minutes to take a 53-37 lead as Darling capped the run with a short jumper. Hopkins increased the margin to 21 at 62-41 after two free throws by sophomore guard Ashley Felix (Pittsburgh, PA/North Catholic) with 12:13 left to play and McDaniel would not get closer than 16 points the rest of the contest. The Green Terror shot just 21 percent (7-for-33) in the second half, while JHU hit at a 46 percent (13-for-28) clip.
Darling was 11-of-16 from the field and 6-of-9 from the foul line as she scored the fourth-highest point total in conference playoff history. She has now scored in double figures in 24 consecutive games and scored at least 18 points in 13 contests. Myers scored 11 of her 17 points in the opening half and finished the game 7-of-12 from the field, including 2-of-4 on three pointers. She became the 19th player in school history to score 600 career points.
Junior guard Trista Snyder (West Chester, PA/Unionville) added eight points and seven rebounds, while Felix scored seven points, dished out three assists, and collected four steals. Senior guard Ashley Shepler (Tornado, WV/Charleston Catholic), sophomore guard Alissa Burkholder (Allentown, PA/Salisbury), and sophomore forward Kelly Rumsey (Atlanta, GA/Marist) each scored six points. Shepler assisted on two baskets to move into sole possession of fifth place in the Centennial Conference with 364 career assists.
Piccolomini scored 18 of her 22 points in the first half and finished the game 9-of-18 from the field. The rest of the McDaniel team was just 11-of-48 in the game as the Green Terror shot 30 percent. Sophomore guard Erin White (Broomall, PA/Marple-Newtown) also reached double figures with 10 points. Senior center Kris Brust (Marriottsville, MD/Glenelg) grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, while junior guard Toby McIntire (Crofton, MD/St. Mary's) handed out a game-high five assists.
The Blue Jays will be making their seventh appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Hopkins has posted an 8-6 record in six previous appearances, including two trips to the Elite Eight and one trip to the Sweet 16.
Centennial Championship 1 2 -F
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