MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – After hanging tough against their Little Three rivals, the Wesleyan women's basketball team couldn't hold on for four quarters as the Mammoths defeated the Cardinals 70-55 on Saturday afternoon from Silloway Gymnasium. Wesleyan (4-2) drops their second straight game at home while Amherst (6-0) remains undefeated on the season.
Neither side got much going offensively in the first quarter, with both teams shooting under 33 percent in the frame. Amherst led 14-8 more than midway through the quarter before a three-point play from
Alli Jones '27 cut the deficit to three. Neither side hit a field goal for the remaining two minutes of play as Amherst led 16-11 after one.
Wesleyan made their move in the second quarter, outscoring the Mammoths 18-13, making it a tie game at 29 apiece heading into halftime. After Amherst went up 20-13, the Cardinals went on a 12-1 run to lead 25-22.
Olivia Quinn '26 started the scoring spree with consecutive makes and
Madi Gomez '24 hit from three off a feed from
Maggie Lee '23 to give the Cardinals their four-point advantage.
The two sides continued to trade blows early in the third quarter, with the lead changing hands four times.
Tori DaCosta '25 scored four quick points to open the stanza and
Felicia Fongemie '27 converted on a fast break to tie the score at 37-37. Amherst began to pull away with six unanswered points in the late stages of the stanza, leading 54-48 after three.
It was still a two-possession game up until the midway point of the fourth quarter, with DaCosta hitting a putback layup to make it 58-52 Mammoths with 5:10 remaining. That, however, was the closest Wesleyan would get to the lead as Amherst outscored Wesleyan 12-3 over the final 5+ minutes of play to take the 70-55 win.
Leading the Cardinals in scoring was Quinn who finished with 14 points (6-12 FG), five rebounds, and two steals in 37 minutes. Lee also netted double figures with 11 points to go along with seven rebounds. DaCosta went for nine points and 12 rebounds while
Alana Jones '24 totaled seven points, seven rebounds, five assists, and four steals.
Amherst's Laura Mendell pumped in a game-high 21 points (7-17 FG) while Reeya Patel tallied 18 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists before fouling out with 1:29 left. Kori Barach finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and two steals while playing all 40 minutes.
Free throws loomed large in the outcome as Wesleyan went just 9-for-19 (47.4%) while the Mammoths hit 18-of-25 (72%) from the charity stripe.
Next up for the Cardinals is a road game on Wednesday night at Albertus Magnus. Tip-off is set for 7 PM.
