Women's Basketball | 3/5/2022 10:19:00 PM
AMHERST, Mass. – After defeating Rhode Island College in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Championship, the nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College women's basketball team saw its historical season come to an end after falling to nationally-ranked Amherst College, 56-48, Saturday evening inside the host's LeFrak Gymnasium. With the loss, the Cardinals conclude their season with a record of 26-3 and as the 20th ranked team in the nation per D3hoops.com's national poll, while No. 8 Amherst College moves to 23-3 and will advance to the Sweet 16 to take on Tufts University.
The Cardinals opened the first quarter with two forced turnovers, leading to consecutive scores, including a
Kaitlyn Walker lay-up and a
Leah Koonmen 3-pointer, to take an early 5-0 lead. The Mammoths answered quickly with a pair of baskets of their own to cut the lead down to one.
After six straight points from Amherst,
Lauren Nawojski came off the bench and found herself a layup off a
Miranda Lynch assist to cut the Amherst lead to one with just three minutes to play in the first. The Cardinals, however, could only manage two more points in the quarter as
Katie Moravec drove to the hoop for a layup while the Mammoths were able to score five additional points to take a 15-11 lead after 10 minutes of action.
As the second quarter got underway, the Mammoths continued their home court momentum with a 10-0 run dating back to the first quarter to take a 21-11 lead. Walker, however, was able to end a 5-minute scoring drought for Fisher with a wide open layup before a pair of free throws by Amherst grew the lead to 11 with just 3:30 to play in the half.
Trailing 24-13, head coach
Melissa Kuberka put her trust in Moravec to get her team back in the game as the freshman put up six of the Cardinals' last eight points of the half, which cut the Mammoths' lead to just six as the Cardinals went into the half trailing 27-21.
Following the intermission, the Cardinals created a 5-1 run after a Walker old-fashioned three-point play cut the Amherst lead to just three. However, an Amherst three-pointer and a steal-and-score layup pushed the Mammoths lead jumped back up to eight with 6:30 remaining in the third.
From there, a Koonmen steal led to a Nawojski jumper to cut the lead back down to six with just over 5:30 minutes to play. After a pair of buckets by Amherst, the Mammoths managed to finish the frame leading 39-32 with one quarter to play.
With only 10 minutes left in the season and trailing by seven, Kuberka's squad needed to find a way to get back in the game. Moravec managed to drive to the hoop for a shooting foul and make both free throws to cut the deficit down to five. After two baskets from Amherst, it seemed as if the home court advantage was too much as the Mammoths led 44-34 with under eight minutes to play.
With the tides shifting, freshman
Sidney Tomasso ignited a quick run for the Cardinals after following her own miss with a tip-in layup to cut the Mammoth lead back to eight. From there, a Walker layup and a pair of free throws from
Claire Kruszka cut the lead to four with just over 6:30 to play.
With five minutes remaining, Moravec and Koonmen each went 1-for-2 from the free-throw line to bring the deficit to just two points. After an Amherst basket moved the lead back up to four, both teams traded free throws to make it a 47-43 game.
With only one minute left in the game, Amherst found its way to the free throw stripe and knocked down both shots to move the lead back up to six. After a Tomasso missed three, Amherst was able to make its free throws down the stretch and take the victory, 56-48.
Walker led the offense for the Cardinals with 15 points, followed by Moravec with 11. Tomasso finished with a team-high six rebounds, while Koonmen and Walker each grabbed five of their own.
As a team, Fisher shot 17-of-51 (.333) from the floor and 3-for-14 (.214) from three. Defensively, the Cardinals forced 15 turnovers and tallied eight steals.
