Hawks top AMCATS in Route 56 rivalry

Leicester, Mass. - In the battle of Route 56 rivals, Becker College defeated Anna Maria College 61-40 in women's non-conference basketball action tonight at Leicester Gymnasium. Becker will take a 2-5 record into the winter break, while the AMCATS will fall to 4-5. Leading the way for Becker was Assabet Valley alum Chelsea Joubert (Westborough, Mass.) with 17 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Anna Maria local Samantha Ashton (Worcester, Mass./Burncoat) finished with 13 points and 7 rebounds. Becker took their first lead of the game 16-15 with 8:24 remaining in the half on a Chelsea Joubert  3-pointer and increased the lead to three on the next play when junior Kristina Desnoyers (Adams, Mass.) had a steal and a layup.  Anna Maria's Samantha Ashton and Kayla Cummings (Auburn, ME) combined for the next 7 points to give the AMCATS a 22-21 lead with just over a minute remaining. Desnoyers hit a basket with 4 ticks left on the clock to give a Hawks a one point advantage, 23-22 going into the locker room. Both teams shot a dismal 30% in the first half. Off the bench Hawks' freshman Shaylynn Nazario (Newport, RI) led all scorers with 8 points and 6 rebounds.  She finished the game with 13 points and 8 rebounds. The Lady Hawks opened up the second half outscoring the AMCATS 19-8 to build a twelve point lead 42-30 with just less than 10 minutes to play. Joubert and Desnoyers had big three pointers and Heidi Miller (Sanbornton, NH), Haley Ooms (Valatie, NY) and Tatiana Mojica (Worcester, Mass) contributed baskets. Chelsea Blair (Holland, Mass.) chipped in 12 points and had 8 rebounds and Britt Quattrocci (Burlington, VT) had 3 blocks for Anna Maria. The Hawks finished the game shooting 37% while AMC dropped to 27%. Becker finished with a slight edge in rebounds 49-46. Release Courtesy of Becker Sports InformationPhoto Courtesy of David Sheridan for AMC Sports Information