Lady AMCATS Honor Seniors

Paxton, Mass. – Senior Samantha Ashton (Worcester, Mass.) scored 16 points and grabbed 7 rebounds but it wasn't enough as the ANCATS were defeated by Saint Joseph College 61-41 in women's basketball Great Northeast Athletic Conference action at The Fuller Activities Center on Tuesday night. With the win the Blue Jays improve to 14-7 (6-5 GNAC) on the season while the AMCATS drop to 5-17 (1-9 GNAC).

In a pre-game ceremony the senior class of Samantha Ashton, Amanda Hevy and Mary Moroski were honored for their contribution to Anna Maria's women's basketball team over the past four years.

Amanda Hevy, is playing in her 80^th game for the Lady AMCATS, currently she has 117 career three point field goals. Mary Moroski, is playing in her 96^th game as a 'Cat and is currently third on the team in rebounds per game.

Samantha Ashton is a four-year member and two-year captain of the AMC women's basketball team.  One of the best players of the last decade, Samantha is currently 7^th all-time in career points and 12^th in career rebounds. On December 8^th Sam became the 11^th player in program history to amass 1,000 career points.

"I am extremely proud to have coached this class of young women," says Head Coach Chris Oroszko. "They are all role models for the community and for future AMCATS."

Joining Ashton in double figures was junior Brooke Denver. Denver put in 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from the floor and added 5 rebounds off the bench. Tailing 4 points each on the score sheet were Kaitlyn Patno, Katie Pryor and Kayla Cummings (Auburn, Maine).

Pacing the Blue Jays on the floor was Devon Diliberto's 12 points, and Mary Hyde's 10 points and 8 rebounds.

The Blue Jays led this one wire to wire opening up the game 5-0 on baskets by Devon Diliberto (Waterbury, Conn.) and Brianna Ferraro (Waterbury, Conn.). Anna Maria responded with back to back layups by Katie Pryor (Whitinsville, Mass.), Brooke Denver (New Britain, Conn.) and a free throw by Kaitlyn Patno (Lunenburg, Mass.) to cut the lead to 8-5 with 11:51 remaining in the first period. Saint Joseph finished out the stanza with a 28-14 run to take a 36-19 lead into the locker rooms.

The Blue Jays continued their dominance in the second half cruising to the 61-41 win. Saint Joseph held a 40% to 34% shooting percentage over the AMCATS and out rebounded Anna Maria 41-27, including 17 offensive boards.

The AMCATS finish their season with three straight road games. They travel to Suffolk University on Saturday for a GNAC match-up starting at 1:00 pm.

Photo courtesy of Lynette Colome