Box Score

ONEONTA, NY – Amherst College shot the lights out from beyond the three-point line on Saturday night to knock the Hartwick women's basketball from the NCAA Tournament at Lambros Arena. The Lord Jeffs made 15 triples out of only 27 attempts (54%) to come away with an 82-61 victory. The Hawks' season comes to a close with an overall record of 22-6.

Brittney Dumas (Easton, CT/Joel Barlow HS) had a double-double with a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds. Seniors Maria Foglia (Rensselaer, NY/Catholic Central HS) and Lee Arduini (Albany, NY/Academy of the Holy Names), who were playing in their final game in a Hartwick uniform, registered 13 and 11 points, respectively.

The Hawks were coming off an emotional 80-77 overtime win over Baruch on Friday night. The team did what it could to match the intensity of the night before but the task was a difficult one.

"We were gassed," said Hartwick head coach Missy West at the post-game press conference. "You could see it in spurts like at the end of the first half. Last night just took a lot out of us and Amherst was on their game. I think it was the best I've seen them play."

The Lord Jeffs were certainly on their game as they shared the basketball and worked their way to wide open looks from three-point range, which they routinely knocked down. Amherst hit two threes early and led 8-4 with 3:38 gone in the first half. Hartwick senior Kate Purcell (Buffalo, NY/Mount Mercy Academy) answered with a three-pointer and later a driving layup from Dumas would land the Hawks a 9-8 lead.

An Amherst layup from Jaime Renner and then back-to-back three-point baskets from Meredith Doswell and Hannah Peterson and the Jeffs were in front 16-9 and they never looked back.

The visitors would bury eight threes in the first half, missing just six and they took a 40-29 lead into halftime. Six Jeffs registered at least five points in the period. Dumas had 11 of the Hawks points in the first half to go along with six rebounds. 'Wick only shot 33% (10-for-30) as a group in the first 20 minutes.

A Renner three started the second half for the Jeffs and another two from Ali Doswell and the lead swelled to 20 points after only 2:28. Doswell would tack on another from deep for a total of three triples in 1:43 of action.

Amherst led by as many as 26 points, 65-39, with 10:01 left to play but the Hawks refused to go quietly as they went on a 13-4 run to close the gap to 69-52 with under five left. Dumas tallied five points with Foglia and Arduini each tallying four in the Hartwick spurt.

It would be as close as the Hawks could get though. Amherst got the next two buckets from Marley Giddins and Savannah Holness and the Jeffs' lead hovered around 20 for the final four minutes.

The Jeffs had five players in double figures led by Ali Doswell's 15 points, all on three-pointers. Giddins and Meredith Doswell each added 14 points. Holness scored 12 and Renner finished with 11. Giddins also added a game-high 11 rebounds.

West praised the contributions of the five seniors – Foglia, Purcell, Arduini, Kait Veit (Easthampton, MA/Holyoke Catholic), and Tracey Koch (Glenmont, NY/Bethlehem). "These players are responsible for changing the culture of Hartwick women's basketball." said West. "We may never have a class as important and valuable to the program."

The quintet racked up an astonishing 76 wins in their four years at 'Wick. It is the second-highest win total of any class in Hartwick history.

Foglia closes her career with 1,540 points, which ranks fourth all-time. She is the program's leader in free throws with 476. Purcell ends up 11^th on the career scoring list with 1,184 points. The career three-point leader had one three on the night to finish with 166. Veit, one of four players all-time to make over 100 threes also hit her final one in a 'Wick jersey. She ends her career with 115.

"Losing in the NCAA Tournament to one of top teams in the country, I can live with that." West said. "What was so special about the weekend was Friday night's win. That was the ultimate feeling as a team to come back like that on the biggest stage. It's something our team is going to remember forever."