AMHERST, MA – The Amherst College women's basketball team took on visiting Mt. Holyoke College this evening at LeFrak Gymnasium in its final game before breaking for Thanksgiving. The Lord Jeffs took home a 76-39 win to improve to 5-0, while the Lyons dropped to 1-4.

The two teams went shot-for-shot over the first few minutes of game time, leaving the Lord Jeffs ahead 9-8. Amherst exploded for an 8-0 run, taking a 17-8 lead with 14:00 to play in the half. Christine Chancy responded for the Lyons with a three pointer from the right wing to stop the streak.

As the game neared the mid-point of the first half, sophomore Kristyn Dunleavy (East Setauket, NY) found first-year Lem Atanga McCormick (Chicago, IL) with a long inbounds lob for a score. On the next possession, Atanga McCormick returned the favor, finding Dunleavy for a score to put Amherst up 21-11 with 11:38 to go.

Senior Susannah Ludwig (Charlottesville, VA) found sophomore Sarah Leyman (Cincinnati, OH) cutting through the paint with 5:30 to play, putting Amherst up 33-15. At the 4:20 mark, Kate Shafir nailed a baseline jumper for the Lyons in response. 

With 3:17 to play, Ludwig finished a nice put-back off an offensive rebound to put Amherst up 39-19, en route to a 47-21 halftime lead. At the break, Amherst's Jaci Daigneault (Guilford, CT) led the Lord Jeffs in scoring with 12 points, while Chancy paced the Lyons with 10 points.

Atanga McCormick got things going in the second half with a turnaround jumper at the 16:40 mark to put the Jeffs up 51-23. Emma Washauer responded for the Lyons with a nice reverse lay up.

Midway through the second half, senior co-captain Amanda Otieno (Gloucester, MA) found Dunleavy on consecutive possessions for deep three pointers. The pair of scores put Amherst up a commanding 63-28. 

At the 5:56 mark, Amherst first-year Livia Rizzo (Dover, MA) scored her first collegiate points on a nice floater from the left block. Rizzo had been playing with the Lord Jeff women's soccer team until this weekend, and was dressing for the first time this year.

Time ticked out on another Lord Jeff win, as Amherst finished the game with a 76-39 result. Daignealt ended as the high scorer for Amherst with her 12 first-half points, while Ludwig and Atanga McCormick each added 10 points. Ludwig tied her career high for points and rebounds (5) and set a new career mark for assist with three.

Erin Cain scored 14 second-half points en route to a game-high 18 for Mt. Holyoke, while Chancy dropped home 11 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. 

Amherst will break for Thanksgiving, and return to face Keene State on the road on December 2 at 7:00 p.m.

BOX SCORE