Women’s Basketball Edged By Johnson & Wales, 64-56

Paxton, Mass. – Anna Maria junior forward Trafficia Warburton (Worcester, Mass.) netted a game-best 22 points but Johnson & Wales used an 18-point effort from D'Ana Rolle (Gardner, Mass.) to help the Wildcats edge the AMCATS, 64-56 in Thursday evening's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's basketball game at Fuller Activities Center.

With the loss, Anna Maria moves to 10-10 overall, 3-3 in GNAC action, while JWU improves to 7-14 overall, 4-3 in conference play.

Warburton scored her 22 on 8-of-14 shooting from the field and an unblemished 6-of-6 from the charity stripe. Teammate Katie Pryor (Whitinsville, Mass.) chipped in with 13 point including 3 from beyond the arc, while Taylor Walker (Winchendon, Mass.) had a match-high 10 rebounds.

JWU had two other players in double figures to go along with Rolle. Junior Natalie DiCocco (Media, PA) tallied 15 point and senior Jenna Juron (Burnt Hills, NY) added ten.

Johnson and Wales open the contest with a 7-0 run and never relinquished the lead. Anna Maria would battle back from the opening deficit outscoring the Wildcats 8-2 over a six minute span to cut the lead to 9-8 at the 11:46 mark. Warburton would contribute 4 points in the run along with a layup by  Pryor and pair of free-throws by Walker. The Wildcats would rally and finish off the half with a 22-13 run to take their largest lead of the half, 31-21 into the locker room.

Warburton led all scorers with eight first half points. JWU shot 37.9% from the floor while Anna Maria shot 24.1% over the first twenty minutes. Anna Maria held  a slight rebounding advantage 22-20.

Both teams would trade baskets to open the second half and the AMCATS still found themselves trailing by ten points, 55-45 with 6:33 to play in the game. With 1:59 showing on the clock, Anna Maria reeled off 5 consecutive points. First Warburton converted a natural three-point play and freshman Christina Gauvin (Dudley, Mass.) sank two from the charity stripe to make it a one possession game (59-56) with 45 ticks on the clock. Unfortunately, JWU would make all their free-throws down the back for  the 64-56 final.

Anna Maria returns to action on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Norwich University for a 3:00 p.m.  GNAC tilt.