Women's Basketball Swims Past Sharks, 51-35

BOSTON, Mass. – Senior forward Trafficia Warburton (Worcester, Mass.) and sophomore guard Christina Gauvin (Dudley, Mass.) each netted 18 points to lead the Anna Maria College women's basketball team over host Simmons College, 51-35, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference tilt this evening at Moore Gymnasium.

The AMCATS improve to 9-11 overall and 4-3 in the league, while the Sharks fall to 5-14 and 1-5.

Both teams shot under 29% from the field for the game, but the Anna Maria defense forced Simmons into 27 turnovers, while the offense committed just 11 and held a 29-8 advantage in points off turnovers for the game.

The Sharks scored the first three points of the game, but endured an eight and a half minute scoring drought, while the AMCATS scored 15 unanswered points. Warburton fueled the outburst with 11 points to give the visitors a 15-3 advantage with 9:58 left in the first half. Simmons countered with six straight points, paced by four from sophomore forward Liz Brasa (East Hartford, Conn.) to cut the deficit to 15-9 at the 8:01 mark.

Anna Maria later pushed its lead back to double-digits when freshman guard Kristina Russo (South Windsor, Conn.) knocked down a three-pointer to give AMC a 21-10 lead with 3:18 to go in the opening period. The Sharks later cut the margin to 23-17, following a jumper from first year forward Celina Jones (Milford, Mass.), before the AMCATS took a 24-17 cushion into the intermission.

Sophomore guard Kimberlee Hixon (Taunton, Mass.) completed a three-point play with a free throw to pull the home team to within 24-20 just 49 seconds into the second stanza, but it would be as close as Simmons would get for the remainder of the contest. The Sharks stayed within 27-22 at the 17:02 mark, but Anna Maria ripped off 11 straight points, capped by a trifecta from Gauvin to increase the AMCATS lead to 38-22 with 8:52 showing on the second half clock. Anna Maria later took its largest lead of the night following a layup from Warburton to give the AMCATS a 50-28 lead at 3:47 of the half, before coming away with the win.

Warburton was 7-12 from the floor and added nine rebounds, three steals and a blocked shot for Anna Maria, while Gauvin grabbed four rebounds, handed out two assists and came up with a pair of steals. Russo finished the night with 11 points, five boards and two steals.

Brasa ended the evening with seven points and eight rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench for Simmons, while sophomore forward Ashley McAdams (Freeport, N.Y.) pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to go with six points on a perfect 3-3 from the floor in addition to an assist, a steal and a block. Sophomore guard Kelsey Heavener (Stafford Springs, Conn.) was also flawless from the field, making both of her shots to contribute with five points, two assists, a rebound and a steal.

The Sharks will be in action again on Saturday, February 7 when they head to Hartford, Conn. to take on GNAC foe University of Saint Joseph at 1:00 p.m., while the AMCATS host Rivier University on the same day at 1:00 p.m.