A simple defensive shift enabled the Red Devils to put some distance on the Blue Jays and Dickinson maintained the lead in a 68-61 Centennial Conference victory over Johns Hopkins at the Kline Center on Saturday afternoon.
Head coach Dina Henry switched to a full-court trap late in the opening half and the Red Devils forced two quick turnovers and hit a couple of shots to extend the lead from 21-20 to a 37-26 halftime advantage.
“The defense caused a couple of turnovers and forced them to take a couple of shots that were rushed,” said Henry. “We gave up a couple of easy buckets and our transition defense is something we are still working on and need to get better at.”
Dickinson scored the final 10 points of the half as Brooke Muller hit a layup and Carole Dempsey added a couple of foul shots before Lindsay Finnerty canned a trey and a short shot in the lane in the final seconds. Finnerty totaled 12 points for the Devils.
Johns Hopkins (2-3 Centennial, 4-3 overall) cut the lead to two points at 43-41 but didn’t seize the lead or the momentum in the closing half.
Dickinson (2-2 Centennial, 4-2 overall) gained a sizable advantage at the foul line as they knocked down 27 of 39 foul shots while the Blue Jays only made 3 of 7 in the game.
“It was a good thing we made free throws because we were not making shots,” added Henry. “The free throws were the difference and if we hadn’t made them, it would have been a different outcome.”
Dickinson played well defensively but the press can be a gamble sometimes and the Jays were able to get some easy buckets. Hopkins also had a size advantage and used it to their advantage in the second half.
Alex Vassila had 15 points and nine rebounds of which 13 points and seven rebounds were in the second half. Vassila is a 6-1 freshman from Potomac, Md. for the Jays.
Alesha Sisco, added 10 points and seven rebounds, as she spent the night giving away five inches to Vassila, but battled hard in the effort.
Her high school teammate Carole Dempsey was a key factor for the Devils as she scored 11 points and added six rebounds but drained all seven of her foul shots.
Senior Brooke Muller, who has struggled with her shot this year, scored 14 points but displayed a solid all-around game. She totaled nine rebounds, three assists and four steals while handling the ball.
“Brooke has to continue to work for the easy shots and they will get her offense started,” said Henry. “She continues to play her game and she can help us in other ways.”
Cedar Cliff product Belma Mekic, a first-year player for the Devils, added five points, two steals and two rebounds.
“The big girl (Vassila) played very well for them and we knew they would make a run at us because they are a very good team,” said Henry.
“Dickinson played well and made their foul shots,” said Blue Jay coach Nancy Funk. “We just put them on the foul line too many times. We got it down to two in the second half but then turned the ball over.”
Dickinson travels to Elizabethtown for a Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. tip-off. The Devils return home Thursday against Albright. Game time is 7 p.m.
NCAA Centennial Conference Basketball
RED DEVILS 68 BLUE JAYS 61
Johns Hopkins 26 35 -61
Dickinson 37 31 -68
BLUE JAYS (61)
Anastasia Wynn 5-16 0-0 11; Leslie Markun 2-4 0-0 4; Chantel Mattiola 1-4 0-0 2; Monica Mitchell 1-4 1-2 3; Lyndsay Burton 5-13 1-1 11; Britni Lonesome 3-9 0-0 7; Stephanie Fong 1-3 0-0 2; Nia Josiah 2-6 0-0 4; Siobhan Callanan 1-2 0-0 2; Alex Vassila 7-10 1-4 15; TOTALS: 28-71 3-7 61
3-point goals: 2-11 (Wynn 1-4, Lonesome 1-4, Markun 0-1, Mattiola 0-1, Fong 0-1)
RED DEVILS (68)
Belma Mekic 1-6 3-4 5; Brooke Muller 3-11 7-12 14; Carole Dempsey 2-6 7-7 11; Bridget Borgese 1-4 2-4 4; Alesha Sisco 5-10 0-2 10; Taylor Miller 1-4 4-6 6; Dana Walsh 3-4 0-0 6; Lindsay Finnerty 3-6 4-4 12; TOTALS: 19-51 27-39 68
3-point goals: 3-7 (Finnerty 2-2, Muller 1-3, Mekic 0-2)
