NEWTON, Mass. – Mount Ida was on the cusp of collecting their first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's basketball victory, but their lead over Anna Maria slipped away in the final minutes and the Mustangs suffered a 59-55 defeat on Tuesday night at Mount Ida Athletic Center.
Mount Ida led from the opening tip-off until the 4:38 mark of the second half, held a ten point margin in each half, and were ahead by seven points with 6:23 to play in the game.
The Mustangs (3-16, 0-5 GNAC) were paced by 16 points from Angelique Martinez (Taunton, Mass.) and a double-double from junior Jenn Rafuse (Brockton, Mass.), who scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.
Taylor Walker (Winchendon, Mass.) was one of two players with a double-double for the Amcats (10-9, 3-2 GNAC), as she scored 14 points and grabbed a game-high 16 boards.
Her only three-pointer of the game levelled the score at 50 with 4:38 left to play, tying the game for the first time since just after the opening tip-off, when Mount Ida took the lead on a Rafuse three-pointer.
Junior Katie Pryor (Whitinsville, Mass.), who had 16 points and ten rebounds for the Amcats, converted a layup with three and a half minutes left to give the visitors their first lead of the night, but Martinez answered on the other end of the court by grabbing an offensive rebound and floating in a layup to re-tie the game at 52.
Anna Maria took the lead thanks to a layup by Walker and, though she failed to complete a three-point play, the Amcats scored the next five points, opening up a 56-52 lead with 19 seconds left.
Martinez grabbed a defensive rebound and was fouled, hitting both free-throws to get Mount Ida back within two points with twenty seconds to play. Trafficia Warburton (Worcester, Mass.) knocked down one of her free-throws for the Amcats and Rafuse also hit one of two on the other end, but the Mustangs were unable to foul again and Christina Gauvin (Dudley, Mass.) made a fast break layup with ten seconds to play to reach the 59-55 final.
The Mustangs opened the game by going ahead 5-0, and then used an 8-0 run late in the first half to extend their advantage to ten points, 30-20, with 3:48 left before the break.
Although the hosts shot 51.9% in the first half, Pryor and the Amcats chipped away and cut the deficit to six points before the teams went to the locker room.
Mount Ida pushed their lead back to ten points when Abbey Fedigan (New Fairfield, Conn.) hit a jump shot with 13:45 to play, but Deja Taitt (Jamaica, N.Y.) made back to back layups to get the ball rolling for the visitors, who got as close as five points before Stephanie Champoux (Tewksbury, Mass.) hit a jump shot with 6:23 to play to get Mount Ida up by seven points again.
From there, Walker took over for Anna Maria, converting a layup and two free-throws before her three-pointer from the right wing tied the game.
Freshman Katlyn Jesse (Marshfield, Mass.) had eight points and dished out six assists for the Mustangs, while Fedigan also scored eight and added four assists of their own for a Mustangs team that dished out 18 helpers.
Jesse also had seven rebounds, while Martinez was two rebounds shy of a double-double, though she and Rafuse each had a pair of blocks.
Junior guard Trafficia Warburton and Taitt each had six steals for Anna Maria, who came away with 17 thefts and forced Mount Ida into 24 turnovers. Warburton had seven points and seven rebounds, while Taitt and Christina Gauvin (Dudley, Mass.) added eight points apiece.
Mount Ida will be on their home court in two days' time, as they will entertain GNAC foe Suffolk at 6:00 pm.
The Amcats will be on their floor in Paxton an hour later for a conference game against Johnson & Wales.