Lady AMCATS Bitten By Sharks

PAXTON, Mass. (01.16.11) – Paced by Hannah May's (Hamden, Conn.) game-high 15 points, Simmons College was able to erase an 8-point halftime deficit to defeat Anna Maria College 63-58, in women's basketball Great Northeast Athletic Conference action tonight at The Fuller Center. Simmons improves to 3-11 (1-3 GNAC) on the season while AMC drops to 5-10 (1-3 GNAC).

Joining May in double figures was Liz O'Connor (Milton, Mass.) and senior Brittany Dolloff (Hollis, Mass.). O'Connor, who battled with foul trouble all night finished with a respectable 14 points and Dolloff added 11 point on 4-of-8 shooting from the field.

Chelsea Blair (Holland, Mass.) led the AMCATS with the games only double-double, scoring 15 points, 13 boards, 3 assists and 2 blocks. Seniors Samantha Ashton (Worcester, Mass) added 13 points and 8 rebounds and Amanda Heavy (North Brookfield, Mass) contributed 11 points off the bench for AMC.

Anna Maria opened the game with a 6 point lead at 8-2 led by 4 points from Blair. Simmons responded with a 15-5 run capped by a Georgia Kostopoulos (Cambridge, Mass.) jumper at 10:26 to take a 17-13 lead.

The AMCATS then fought back to score the last 4 points of the half to take an 8 point intermission lead 32-24.

AMC's Sam Ashton opened the second half with a good layup to give the AMCATS their largest lead of the night 34-24. However, Anna Maria was unable to keep the momentum going, as the Sharks strung together a 16-1 run to take a 40-35 advantage with 13:18 remaining in the game.

Ashton and Blair scored 9 of the AMCATS next 11 points to tie the game at 46 at the 7:46 mark.

Simmons' O'Connor then converted a three-point play at 5:41 to put the Sharks up 6 points.

AMC responded with back-to-back-to-back shots from behind the three point arc. Chelsea Blair dished out passes to Amanda Heavy and Alison McCarthy for treys and Katie Pryor (Whitinsville, Mass.) gave Anna Maria a 55-52 lead with 4:21 remaining.

Maintaining a slim one-point advantage with less than 30 seconds to go, Simmons' Olivia LaCroix (Manchester, NH) heaved a three pointer as the shot clock was going to expire to seal the win for the Sharks.

Anna Maria returns to action on Wednesday night when they host Emmanuel College in a GNAC match-up at 7:00 pm.

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Photo courtesy of David Sheridan