UTICA, N.Y. – Sophomore guard
AnLing Vera tallied a program-record 16 assists as the Amherst College women's basketball team cruised to an 86-54 win over the SUNY Polytechnic Institute on Tuesday in a rematch of an NCAA Tournament clash from last season.
Vera's 16 assists are the most in a game by any player in Division III this season. Vera broke the previous Amherst record of 12 that was set by Maeve McNamara '19 in November 2018.
The Mammoths improved to 14-5 this season and snapped SUNY Poly's three-game winning streak, dropping the Wildcats to 8-11.
The Mammoths are back in action on Friday (Jan. 27), returning to NESCAC action for a visit to Little Three rival Wesleyan at 7 p.m. Amherst has already clinched the Little Three Championship this season.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
* The Mammoths jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. After opening the game on a 9-2 run, Amherst reeled off 14 unanswered points to take a 23-5 lead when sophomore forward
Maya Cwalina scored a layup with two minutes left in the first quarter.
* Amherst went up by 21 when Vera hit a three with 3:44 to go in the second quarter as part of a 9-0 run the put the Mammoths up by a 42-19 margin before taking a 50-27 lead to halftime.
* The third quarter was the most evenly played stretch of the game but the Mammoths still managed to increase their lead, capping the quarter with a Vera steal that led to a fastbreak bucket for first-year guard
Brooke Ingemi.
* Back-to-back threes from Ingemi and sophomore guard
Reeya Patel pushed the lead over 30 as the Mammoths scored eight unanswered points to open the fourth quarter.
* Vera dished to junior forward
Abbey Skinner for a layup with six minutes to go in the game to put the Mammoths up by a 78-46 margin with Vera's 16th and final assist of the contest.
BY THE NUMBERS:
* Patel led the Mammoths with 20 points and 8 rebounds, shooting 7-of-10 from the floor. Sophomore forward
Kori Barach was right behind with 19 points and 7 rebounds, as well as 3 steals.
* First-year guard
Anna Tranum netted a season-high 15 points, while Cwalina was the fourth Mammoth in double figures, stuffing the stat sheet with 12 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocks and 2 steals.
* The Mammoths had their best shooting game of the season, hitting 54 percent (33-of-61) of shots from the floor, while the Wildcats shot 33 percent (21-of-64). Amherst also matched its season high with nine three-pointers, shooting 39 percent (9-of-23) from beyond the arc while SUNY Poly was 3-of-10.
* Seniors Molly Burdick and Lyrik Jackson each scored 15 points to lead the Wildcats.
