AMHERST, MA- Women's basketball loses a close battle with No. 11 Amherst Friday night 61-54. This was a much more competitive than the first meeting between these two teams back in early December, when then No. 8 Amherst traveled to Middletown to defeat Wesleyan by 17. It appeared it might be headed in that direction, when the Mammoths took a 13-point lead into the half. However, the Cardinals fought back making it interesting in the final minutes of the 4^th before Amherst sealed the victory with some free throws.

Wesleyan has their two-game winning streak snapped, as they drop to 8-10 (1-4 NESCAC). No. 11 Amherst continues their stellar start to the season, improving to 12-2 (3-2 NESCAC).

Wesleyan was led in scoring by Marina Petruzzi '22 with 15 points. Petruzzi shot 6/13 from the field (3/6 3pt), while also pulling down 4 rebounds in her 30 minutes on the floor. This is her 12^th game in double figures during the 2021-22 season.

She was joined in double figures by fellow senior Maddie Clark '22 who finished with 14 points (5/13 FG) on the night. Caleigh Ryan '22 led the way in the rebounding category with 13 rebounds, to go with her nine points for the Cardinals. Another valuable contributor on the glass was Tori DaCosta '25 who brough down nine boards to go along with her eight points off the bench.

The first quarter was all Amherst as they jumped out to an early nine-point lead in the first 10 minutes. Dani Valdez led the way for the Mammoths in the early going, scoring eight (4-5 FG) of her 20 points (9-20 FG) in the 1^st to lead all scorers.

The Mammoths kept their foot on the pedal in the 2^nd quarter, extending their lead even more. They had the margin at as high as 16, before a Petruzzi three-pointer to end the half cut the deficit to 13.

The lead continued to balloon halfway through the 3^rd quarter, when a Dani Valdez jumper gave the Mammoths their largest lead of the contest at 20. Wesleyan responded just a few minutes later with a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 11 thanks to some Caleigh Ryan jumpers and a pair of Clark free throws. The Amherst lead going into the 4^th held at 12.

Wesleyan started the 4^th with a 5-0 run capped off by a Dacosta layup they had the lead down to seven once again. Petruzzi hit a three with just under four minutes left to get Wesleyan as close as they had been in the 2^nd half at six, but Valdez answered with a jumper of her own. Amherst was able to close the door on a Wesleyan comeback with some stellar free throw shooting and defense down the stretch to give them the 61-54 win.

Wesleyan returns to the court Sunday at Hamilton at 3 pm for another NESCAC game.