No. 3 AMHERST TOO STRONG FOR WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

AMHERST, Mass. – The Emmanuel College women's basketball team battled No. 3 Amherst College on Tuesday evening but the defending national champions were too much for the Saints as Amherst held on for a 49-38 victory in which they held EC to single digit point totals in the first three quarters of action at LeFrak Gymnasium.

The teams remained tied at four until under five minutes to play in the first quarter when Madeline Eck '20 gave Amherst the lead for good with a layup. Eck would go on to lead all players with 16 points and also had four steals and seven rebounds.

The hosts took an 11-6 lead into the first quarter break, and then extended that lead to double-digits by holding Emmanuel to just two field goals in the second quarter.

EC sophomore Yuleska Ramirez-Tejeda (South Boston, Mass.) led the Saints with eight points and seven rebounds, but Emmanuel was held to shooting 8-38 through the first three periods. Meanwhile, the Mammoths built their lead to 26 points when Kate Sullivan '21 hit a three-pointer as the fourth quarter got underway.

Hannah Fox '20 scored ten points and dished out four assists for the No. 3 team in the country, and Hannah Hackley '18 and Emma McCarthy '19 combined for 17 points and three steals.

Emmanuel made a run at a comeback in the final eight minutes. They ended up forcing the Mammoths into 22 turnovers, including three steals from senior guard Alisha Fox (National Park, N.J.), who scored five points as well. The Saints outscored Amherst 21-7 in the final ten minutes, but wouldn't get to 11 points, as close as they would come, until the final horn of the game, when Kayla Weaver hit a layup for her first points of the game.

The visitors (1-3) got five rebounds apiece out of juniors Madison McLaughlin (Westerly, R.I.) and Mary McCarthy (Scituate, Mass.), but were outrebounded by Amherst 38-32.

Cam Hendricks '20 grabbed a game-high eight rebounds for the Mammoths (4-0).

Amherst hits the road in two days' time for a 7:00 pm contest at Eastern Connecticut State while Emmanuel hosts Saint Joseph's (ME) on Saturday, December 2 at 1:00 PM in a rematch of the 2017 GNAC Championship game.

*Release courtesy of Amherst College Athletic Communication Dept.