Mustangs Race to 70-53 Women's Basketball Victory

NEWTON, Mass. – Trish Liotta (Hampton Bays, N.Y.) helped lead the Mustangs of Mount Ida College to their third win of the year and their first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) of the season by defeating Anna Maria by a final score of 70-53 on Thursday night at the Mount Ida Athletic Center.

Mount Ida improves to 3-14 (1-4 GNAC) while the AMCATS drop to 6-10 (0-4 GNAC).

AMCAT LEADERS

Anna Maria was led by Nicole Mareiro (Acushnet, Mass.) with 13 points and Kristina Russo (South Windsor, Conn.) who tallied 12 points and six rebounds. Deja Taitt (Cambia Heights, N.Y.) tallied 10 points, followed by Samantha Parker (Athol, Mass.) with nine points and a team-leading nine rebounds.

Freshman Mary Tadsse (Portland, Maine) recorded five points off the bench in the setback for the AMCATS.

MOUNT IDA LEADERS

Liotta recorded a new career high 21 points on 6 of 16 shooting from the floor while going perfect from the charity stripe and shooting 50% from downtown.

Breanna Muir (Wareham, Mass.) also recorded a new career high in points tonight with 17 while also totaling seven rebounds and two assists. Angie Martinez (Taunton, Mass.) recorded her 9th double-double of the year grabbing 10 rebounds to go along with 11 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

After a back-and-forth first quarter in which the Mustangs and AMCATS both exchanged the lead at different times, Mount Ida would hold the slim lead after one quarter of play at 14-9.

Anna Maria outscored Mount Ida 14 to 11 in the second quarter to bring the slim Mustang lead back to two points at the break, 25-23.

To begin the second half, Parker hit a 17-foot jumper to tie the game back at 25-all before teammate Taitt laid the ball in to regain the lead for the visitors. At the 6:48 mark of the third quarter Muir started a 12-0 run by the Mustangs by hitting two free throws before Liotta assisted on two made lay ins by Martinez before knocking down a three pointer to put the Mustangs ahead for good at 38-31 with 4:48 to play.

The Mustangs would continue to pour it on in the latter part of the third quarter of play before ending the frame leading by 13 at 48-35 while outscoring the AMCATS 23-12.

Mount Ida outscored AMC 45 to 30 in the second half en route to their GNAC victory while shooting 38.9% from three-point land and 80.8% (21-26) from the free throw line.

FINAL COMPARISONS

Both teams nailed 21 field goals in the victory but the biggest disparity came at the free-throw line, where Mount Ida finished 21-of-26 and Anna Maria hit went just 5-of-10. Mount Ida also dominated the boards, outrebounding the AMCATS 53-39.

WHAT'S NEXT

Mount Ida is back on the hardwood on Saturday afternoon as part of a doubleheader when they entertain Simmons at 1:00 before the men's basketball team plays host to Rivier at 3:00. Anna Maria will return home and face off against Saint Joseph (CT) with tipoff set for 1:00 at the Fuller Center.