Composure won out over calculation last night as the Johns Hopkins women's basketball team escaped with a 61-53 win over Cabrini in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament.
The Blue Jays (23-4) hit 10 free throws over the last 2: 33 to pick up their ninth straight victory over the Cavaliers (20-8) and move on to a second-round game Saturday at 2 p.m. against the winningest program in the history of women's college basketball, 25-4 Elizabethtown.
Hopkins, which has made it to the round of eight in each of the last two seasons, mounted a late 10-2 run, spoiling the plans of Cabrini coach Dan Welde, who wanted to slow the game down after a comeback midway through the second half.
"We've played some tight games this season," Blue Jays coach Nancy Blank said, "and I can sense from my team and from our leadership that we're going to win the game; we're still in control."
Down 46-31 after a lay-in by Hopkins' Marjahna Segers with 9: 40 remaining, Cabrini's previously absent inside game returned, particularly in the form of senior center Melissa Posse.
Able to muster only two points in the first half, Posse -- a four-time first-teamer in the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference -- scored six of her game-high 15 points as the Cavaliers produced 13 unanswered points.
The last basket came on a three-pointer by Mary Ellen Murphy with 5: 32 left in the game that closed the Blue Jays' lead to 46-42. At this point, Welde hoped to slow the game down.
"We were going four-corners, pronto," Welde said, "which would have allowed us to control the game a little more and keep it close and take a shot at the end."
But Hopkins wouldn't allow that to happen, preventing Cabrini from scoring for the next four minutes.
The Blue Jays, meanwhile, solved the triangle-and-two defense the Cavaliers were running and, though they made only two field goals of their own, went to line for 14 free-throw attempts.
Felicia Schorr, a senior center who played all of three minutes in last Saturday's Centennial Conference final against Muhlenberg and came back to help shut down Posse in the first half of last night's game, helped Hopkins begin to pull away by hitting a jumper with 2: 58 left.
Later, it was Joy Vaccaro's three-pointer with 1: 45 left that gave the Blue Jays a 53-44 lead and more or less doomed Cabrini's chances.
Three free throws by junior point guard Leslie Ritter finished the Cavaliers, with Hopkins leading 56-46 and 1: 37 left, but it was appropriate that Vaccaro and Schorr would play a vital role in Hopkins' victory.
The pair, along with Jen Deadrick, passed last season's All-America duo of Julie Anderson and Angie Arnold in helping their class become the winningest ever at Hopkins, with their 92nd victory.
"We were joking about it, because we're not known for our scoring," said Vaccaro, who led the Blue Jays in scoring with 13 points.
"I guess we should say thank you to everyone we were fortunate enough to play with. But this is our fourth straight year in the NCAAs -- more games, more wins -- we're just delighted to be a part of it."
CABRINI -- Cooper 0-5 0-0 0, Pierangeli 0-5 4-4 4, Barney 1-2 0-0 2, Virelli 4-9 0-1 9, Posse 6-10 3-4 15, Ryer 0-1 0-0 0, Crawford 5-18 2-4 12, Murphy 4-8 2-4 11, Reynolds 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 20-61 11-17 53.
JOHNS HOPKINS -- Butterwei 3-3 0-0 6, Ritter 2-14 8-11 12, Deaderick 0-6 0-0 0, Segers 2-5 0-0 4, Vaccaro 3-6 4-4 13, Fitzgerald 3-9 1-2 10, Malloy 3-8 2-4 8, Edobar-Osula 0-1 0-0 0, Sumser 0-4 0-0 0, Hamilton 1-5 0-0 2, Schorr 2-8 2-2 6. Totals 19-69 17-23 61.
Halftime--Johns Hopkins 34-25. 3-point goals--C 2-25 (Coper 0-3, Pierangeli 0-4, Barney 0-1, Virelli 1-5, Crawford 0-4, Murphy 1-5, Reynolds 0-3). JH 6-24 (Ritter 0-4, Deaderick 0-5, Vaccaro 3-6, Fitzgerald 3-7, Sumser 0-2). Rebounds--C 39 (Posse 14), JH 61 (Segers 13). Assists--C 12 (Pierangeli 5), JH 11 (Ritter 3). Total fouls--C 23, JH 15. A--230.
Pub Date: 3/04/99