No. 9 AMHERST TOPS WOMEN’S BASKETBALL, 74-61

Boston, Mass. – Five members of the Amherst College women's basketball team recording double-figures en route to a 74-61 victory over Emmanuel College Thursday evening at the Jean Yawkey Center in Boston, Mass. The Lord Jeffs, ranked No. 9 in the latest D3hoops.com national poll, improve to 6-0 on the year while the loss drops Emmanuel (No. 16 in the latest D3hoops.com national poll) to 6-1.

With 13:20 remaining, a three by Amherst senior guard Marcia Voigt (Skillman, N.J.) gave the Lord Jeffs a 48-37 lead and then senior forward Bridget Crowley (Hampden, Mass.) extended the lead to 13 with a bucket down low giving the visitors a 50-37 cushion.

EC would respond with an 8-2 run capped by a jumper from the free throw line by senior forward Fiona O'Dwyer, cutting the lead to 45-52 with more than nine to play. Sophomore forward Savannah Holness (Middlebury, Conn.) pushed the lead back to double-digits when she corralled a missed free throw attempt and finished a put-back to make it 57-47 with 8:14 left in the action.

With 6:40 to play Voigt connected on another three, her fourth of the contest to make it 62-49 but EC senior forward Chenae Earle (South Orange, N.J.) answered with shot from behind the arc to get in back to 10 points at 62-52.

An O'Dwyer turnaround jumper made it 54-62 with under six to play but a pair of free throws by Holness pumped the lead back to 10 (54-64) with 5:36 remaining. On the next possession, Voigt connect on two more from the charity stripe to make it 66-54 and on the ensuing possession, fouled out to end her night with 17 points.

A pair of Hardy free throws gave the Lord Jeffs their largest lead of the night at 68-54 but Emmanuel would make some noise with a fast break basket by junior forward Liz Daley (Sharon, Mass.) to cut the lead back to 10 (68-58) with 2:38 left in the second stanza.

A quick three by EC junior guard Bria Tiro (Saugus, Mass.) made it a three possession game at 69-61 with 2:26 on the clock and the Saints were able to force a Lord Jeff turnover on the next possession but failed to convert two opportunities to cut into the Amherst lead.

Hardy would connect on another pair of three throws to bump the lead to 10 with less than two to play and the Lord Jeffs would hold on with for the 74-61 victory.

In the opening frame, the Lord Jeffs opened the action on an 8-1 run fueled by a pair of three's from Voigt but the Saints would answer with an 8-3 run spurt of their own capped by a jumper by O'Dwyer to make it 11-9 with just over 14 minutes remaining in the first half.

Amherst would extend its lead to 19-11 following a trey by freshman guard Haley Zwecker (Atlanta, Ga.) at the 11:25 marker before EC would connect on back-to-back layups to pull within four at 19-15.

The Lord Jeffs would take their largest lead of the half with 9:38 to play when senior guard Jasmine Hardy (Meriden, N.H.) drained a shot from behind the arc to make it 24-15 in favor of the visitors. The Saints would keep pace things close and again pull within four at the 2:49 marker following a layup by sophomore forward Vanessa Bramante (Stoneham, Mass.). Bramante had a chance to cut it to a single possession but missed the and-one free throw attempt.

After the squad's traded a pair of free throws to make it 31-27, Hardy would connect on another three pointer to help the visitors take the 34-28 lead into the locker room.

Hardy (18), Voigt (17), Crowley (11), sophomore forward Megan Robertson (Tewksbury, Mass) (11) and Holness (10) were all in double-figures for the Lord Jeffs. Robertson also collected a game-high 12 rebounds for the double-double.

O'Dwyer finished with a team-high 17 points and nine rebounds. while Bramante ended the night with 14.

The Saints are back in action on Thursday evening when they host Salem State University at 5:30 PM while the Lord Jeffs return to the hardwood the same night when they play host to Babson College at 5:30 PM.