Cardinals rally to hold off Mammoths, 65-61

Cardinals rally to hold off Mammoths, 65-61 | https://athletics.amherst.edu/

By Press release submission

Jan 30, 2023

Cardinals rally to hold off Mammoths, 65-61

Cardinals senior guard Brooke Guiffre scored 23 points and tallied 4 steals to lead Wesleyan University to a 65-61 win over the Amherst College women's basketball team in NESCAC action on Friday night at Silloway Gymnasium.

The Cardinals improved to 9-10 overall and 2-3 in NESCAC play, while the Mammoths, who already clinched the Little Three Championship, fell to 14-6 on the season with a 2-4 mark in conference play.

The Mammoths are back in action tomorrow (Saturday, Jan. 28), visiting 15th-ranked Trinity for a NESCAC clash at 3 p.m.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* The Mammoths started strong, reeling off an early 14-2 run to take a 10-point lead when sophomore guard Kori Barach completed a traditional three-point play with 2:35 on the clock in the first quarter.

* The Cardinals closed the gap to six points by the end of the first quarter and a 14-0 run that straddled the first and second quarters put Wesleyan up by five. After first-year guard Olivia Quinn tied the game at 19-19 with a fastbreak layup, Guiffre hit a three-pointer and came up with a steal and a fastbreak jumper on the next possession to give the Cardinals a 24-19 lead with 7:04 to play in the second quarter.

* The Mammoths responded with nine unanswered points, taking a 28-24 lead when sophomore guard Reeya Patel hit a three with 2:36 left in the second.

* A pull-up three from Guiffre with 12 seconds left in the second gave the Cardinals a 29-28 halftime lead.

* The Mammoths reclaimed the lead early in the third quarter when sophomore forward Maya Cwalina drove to the basket for a layup. Cwalina scored Amherst's next basket after making a steal and the Mammoths led, 36-33, with 5:55 to go in the third.

* Guiffre once again scored in the final seconds of the quarter, hitting a three to tie the game at 41-41 entering the fourth quarter.

* Cwalina opened the final frame with a layup but Guiffre answered with a three off a steal by junior guard Alana Jones. After a Barach free throw tied the game at 44-44, Jones and Quinn scored on consecutive possessions to give the Cardinals a lead they never relinquished.

* The Cardinals led by eight with two minutes to play after Guiffre made a pair of free throws. First-year guard Anna Tranum sunk a pair from the line for the Mammoths with 54 seconds to go and Patel hit a three to cut the Wesleyan lead to 62-59 with 21 seconds to play, but Guiffre hit three-of-four free throws in the final moments to seal the win.

BY THE NUMBERS:

* Quinn scored 18 points off the bench for the Cardinals and Jones netted 12 points to join Guiffre in double figures. Sophomore forward Tori DaCosta grabbed 10 rebounds for Wesleyan.

* Tranum scored a career-high 18 points to lead four Mammoths in double figures. Patel contributed 13 points, Barach tallied her seventh double-double this season with 12 points and 12 rebounds, and sophomore guard AnLing Vera scored 10 points to go with 8 assists.

* Barach also recorded six steals and Cwalina blocked six shots for the Mammoths.

* The Cardinals shot 41 percent (23-of-56) from the floor while the Mammoths were 35 percent (22-of-63). Both teams sunk seven three-pointers, but Wesleyan did so in half as many attempts, connecting on 54 percent (7-of-13) of three-pointers while Amherst went 26 percent (7-of-27) from deep.