Trampling through Silloway Gymnasium, the Amherst Lord Jeffs bested the women’s basketball team 72-49 in a Little Three clash on Tuesday, Jan. 28. The Cardinals fought valiantly for most of the first half, but ultimately the Amherst offense was too much for the hosts.
Early on, the game was a tightly contested, low-scoring battle, a back-and-forth affair in which neither team could find a solid rhythm. At the midpoint of the first half, the score was knotted at 11-11, with Wesleyan scrapping for points to put together a lead. With 6:32 remaining in the first half, captain KellyAnn Rooney ’14 knocked down a corner trey to put the Cards up 17-14, their largest lead of the night.
It looked as though Wesleyan had come to play. Head Coach Kate Mullen seemed pleased with her team’s early efforts.
“I thought we had a very good response after our tough loss on Saturday,” Mullen said. “I give all the credit to the players. They set the tone from the start. I thought their execution was sharp and I think they just really sent the message to Amherst early that they were here to compete and to play a Little Three basketball game.”
But the three-ball by Rooney ultimately provided the last lead the Cardinals would see. Amherst’s offense started pouring shots in from beyond the arc and Wes just couldn’t respond in time.
The Jeffs went on a 17-2 run to finish the first half; facilitated by 7 Cardinal turnovers, they pushed the score to 31-19. Wesleyan labored to recover in the second half, bringing the score to 34-26 early on in the period, but the Amherst offense, which shot a superb 44.6 percent from the field, proved to be too much for the Cards’ defense to handle.
Amherst’s Hannah Peterson led the barrage of threes, drilling seven attempts from long range. In total, Wesleyan allowed a season-worst nine three-pointers on the night.
“[Peterson]’s a forward,” Mullen explained. “We knew about her. We had seen it. It’s kind of hard to replicate in practice. And I think when you’re playing in that kind of game, competing, they have a lot of weapons, so it’s not like you can put one person on her. We tried to do some different match-ups, but in the end we left her alone a little bit too much and just had to be smart about where she is. When we play her the next time in their gym, she will not get as many open shots. That’s all I can say. That I can guarantee you.”
While the 72-49 loss was the most lopsided of the season thus far for the Cardinals, there still remained a few bright spots, including forward Kaylie Williams ’16, who tied a career high with 14 points.
“I played against [Amherst] last year and it was all about team response,” Williams said. “It wasn’t really anything I did differently. My teammates got me the ball and put me in a good position to score. And Amherst’s defense is always really tough. We responded well on offense and played well overall, but defensively it needs a little work the next time we play them.”
The Cardinals will take on a struggling Bates squad at home on Friday, Jan. 31. Then, on Saturday, Feb. 1, Wesleyan faces a showdown with undefeated Tufts in Silloway Gymnasium.