AMCATS Stun Bison at home, 68-60

PAXTON, Mass. – Senior Samantha Ashton (Worcester, Mass.) had 20 points and 5 rebounds as the Anna Maria College women's basketball team defeated Nichols College by a score of 68-60 in season opening non-conference action at The Fuller Activities Center on Tuesday night.  The AMCATS start the season at 1-0 while Nichols drops to 0-1.

Ashton scored her game high 20 points on 8-of- 15 shooting. Pacing the AMCATS along with Ashton was sophomore guard Liz Sama (Windsor, Conn.) who added 14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals and Alison McCarthy (Lynn, Mass) and Amanda Hevy (North Brookfield, Mass.) each contributed eight points.

Junior Natalie Wilson (Bedford, NH) led the Bison with 13 points, 4 rebounds and an assist. Senior forward Chelsea Shaughnessy (Halifax, Mass.) also played well for Nichols chipping in 7 points, a grabbing a game high 10 rebounds. Kristina Lindgren (Sturbridge, Mass.) and Hannah Nolan (Billerica, Mass.) each added 7 points in the loss.

The AMCATS came out in midseason form taking a quick 7-0 lead on Sam Ashton basket, a 3-pointer by Liz Sama and Chelsea Blair (Holland, Mass.) layup. After a Nichols 30 second time-out AMC kept up their pace still holding a nine point lead 15-6 at 13:30 of the first stanza. The Bison finally broke out of the stables and went on a 14-0 run to take a 20-15 lead with 10 minutes remaining. The teams traded baskets with the Bison holding a small lead until just over a minute remaining in the half. AMC took a 32-31 lead with 1:25 left in the half but a jumper by Shaughnessy and free throws from Natalie Wilson gave the Bison a 36-32 halftime advantage.

The Bison came out strong in the second half. Natalie Wilson scored on the Bison's first possession of the second half and a 3-pointer by Kristina Lindgren (Sturbridge, Mass.) gave Nichols their biggest lead of the game 41-34. Anna Maria would not give up, playing well all night on the court and chipped away at the 7 point advantage with back-to-back-to-back 3 pointers by Alison McCarthy, Amanda Hevy and Katie Pryor (Whitinsville, Mass.) to take the lead for good at 47-45 with 13:55 remaining.

AMC played dominating defense once they captured the lead causing an uncharacteristic 6 Nichols turnovers and held the Bison to 32% shooting in the second half for the win. Anna Maria shot 44% from the field for the game and converted 9-of-22 three pointers (41%).

Anna Maria returns to action on Friday night when they travel to Becker College for game one of the Worcester City Basketball Tournament. They will face WPI at 8:00 pm in Leicester, Mass.