In the aftermath of Johns Hopkins women’s basketball’s two-point victory at Christopher Newport in an NCAA Division III Tournament second-round game Saturday, Macie Feldman had to prioritize. Instead of basking in the celebration and rewatching film from that game, the sophomore guard had to write a paper on the team bus and submit it by Sunday night and cram for an exam she took Tuesday.
“It was definitely really challenging,” she said with a laugh. “I had to keep reminding myself not to search up ‘JHU women’s basketball’ or look at our stats or look at Scranton film. I’m so glad that it’s over so that I can get back into [basketball] mode.”
These are exciting times for the Blue Jays, who knocked off the No. 4 and 2023 national runner-up Captains, 77-75, despite the hosts having won 54 consecutive games at home — which had been the longest active streak in Division III — and advanced to seven straight Sweet 16s.
Now Johns Hopkins (26-3) will make its first appearance in the Sweet 16 since 1998 when it meets Scranton (27-2) in a third-round game Friday at 4:30 p.m. at the Brooklyn Athletic Facility in New York. If the Blue Jays can get past the Royals, they could face overall No. 1 seed and host NYU (27-0), which beat Johns Hopkins by 20 in November, in the Elite Eight on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
In both games, Johns Hopkins, which has already set a single-season record for victories, would likely be considered the underdog. That’s not the view Greta Miller is taking.
“Maybe solely based on numbers we are because Scranton is 27-2 and NYU is the overall No. 1 seed,” the junior small forward said. “It’s like when we played [Christopher Newport]. They had a super-long home winning streak and all of these other accolades, and we just came in and played our game, and it worked out. So I think that’s more of the motto, that we have to show up. I wouldn’t want to play us if I was the other team.”
Success isn’t a stranger to the Blue Jays, who earned a trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2019 and the first round in 2022 and 2023 under coach Katherine Bixby. But in the offseason, Bixby stepped down to become an assistant coach at Loyola Maryland.
Enter Rodney Rogan, who left the same position at Rhodes College to succeed Bixby on Aug. 7. Rogan guided the Lynx to Southern Athletic Association Tournament championships in 2021, 2022 and 2023 and NCAA Tournament berths in 2022 and 2023, but joined Johns Hopkins at an unusually late time.
“You get a new coach, and there can be a lot of unknowns, but I also think they wanted to make sure, ‘Hey, I’m going to put my best foot forward here,’” he recalled. “They felt like it was an audition of sorts, and they really dove into the idea that we need to play with pace. They allowed me to coach them. It’s not easy to give your trust over to a new staff and a new coach, but I appreciate them going with it, and because of that, we’ve been able to have some success.”
Rogan had ideas on how to make the Blue Jays more dangerous. He implored his players to accelerate their tempo, dominate the rebounding margin and feel confident enough to call their own plays without looking to him to call sets.
Success was immediate. Their 69.4 points per game are their most since the 2004-05 squad averaged 70.7. Miller, Feldman, sophomore shooting guard Elisabeth Peebles, junior small forward Michaela O’Neil, sophomore point guard Kendall Dunham and freshman shooting guard Layla Henderson have each scored 20 points in a game this winter.
Johns Hopkins ranks ninth nationally in rebounds per game (48.2) and 14th in rebound margin (plus-10.1). And the players said Rogan has infused them with conviction.
“We just trust ourselves and each other more,” said Miller, who participated with tri-captains graduate student forward Kara Milliken and senior guards Maya Johnson and Zoe Soule in Rogan’s interview process in July. “Coach Rogan is so positive. He just says, ‘Go score,’ and we’ll go score. Just hearing that voice on the sideline and actually believing it, I think that’s the biggest difference.”
Sophomore shooting guard Elisabeth Peebles went from averaging 3.1 points and 2.3 rebounds in 18 games coming off the bench as a freshman to leading the team in scoring at 12.5 points and 3-point field goals with 58 and adding 4.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 21 games, including 18 starts. Miller increased her averages from 6.6 points to 10.3, 6.9 rebounds to 8.6, and 1.5 assists to 3.3.
Rogan said Feldman has made perhaps the biggest jump as the starting point guard who moves to shooting guard when sophomore Kendall Dunham enters the game. Feldman leads the team with 3.3 assists and ranks second with 8.1 rebounds and third with 10.3 points.
“He kind of saw me in a different role, which I was not expecting at first,” she said. “But he had the confidence and trust in me to go out and learn from him and take his critiques and apply them to my game. I actually really love playing [shooting guard] now.”
Despite not starting a senior or graduate student, Johns Hopkins won 17 games in a row, eclipsing the previous program record of 15 set during the 2021-22 season. Although it lost to Gettysburg, 64-55, in the Centennial Conference Tournament final on Feb. 25, Feldman said the winning streak emboldened the players.
“I think it’s brought our team together,” she said. “I think we all banded together knowing we can do something pretty powerful on the court. I think Coach has instilled a lot of confidence in us to go out and perform and be successful.”
If the Blue Jays emerge from the weekend to earn their first spot in the Final Four, Rogan knows the wins will be tagged with “upset” labels, which he doesn’t agree with. But he said overlooking Johns Hopkins would be a mistake.
“I think we’re playing with a confidence and a belief that you have to have if you want to go all the way,” he said. “If you don’t set your sights on the ultimate goal, I don’t think you can get there. So you want to believe that you can compete with anyone in front of us, and right now, that’s Scranton. Scranton is the focus and priority. We’d love to compete with them and keep going.”
NCAA Division III Sweet 16
Johns Hopkins vs. Scranton
At Brooklyn, New York
Friday, 4:30 p.m.