Amherst, Mass. – November 23, 2024 – Fueled by a 24-point outing by Amanda Leary (Westbury, N.Y.), the Springfield College women's basketball team picked up its first win at Amherst College since 1998 with a 51-48 triumph over the Mammoths on Saturday afternoon.
 
Springfield is now 3-3 on the year while Amherst suffered its first loss of the year to drop to 3-1.  The victory marked Springfield's first win over Amherst since 2006.

Leary was sensational in scoring 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting and Angie Czeremcha (West Springfield, Mass.) hauled in 15 rebounds to go along with 10 points in a game where Springfield led for all but 14 seconds. 

Six-straight points from Leary allowed Springfield to jump out to an 8-2 lead less than two minutes into the contest before an inside finish by Czeremcha at 5:15 doubled up Springfield's lead at 14-7.   The visiting Pride would shoot an impressive 53% from the field in the opening 10 minutes of action as it snagged a 23-16 cushion, thanks to 11 first-quarter points by Leary. The offense slowed in the second quarter for Springfield as it netted just seven points, as it did not score a field goal in the final five-plus minutes but was able take a 30-28 edge into the halftime break.

In the third, Springfield put together an 8-2 push to extend its lead to 43-35 when Carrie Hess (Shrewsbury, Mass.) was able to convert down low with just over a minute left on the clock.   Inside the first minute of the fourth, Leary finished in the lane to help Springfield gain its largest lead of the afternoon at 45-35.  However, Amherst clamped down and held the Pride to just 2-of-12 the remainder of the frame as it used a 13-4 push to get within 49-48 with 33 seconds remaining.  Leary would later knock down on a pair from the line to make it a three-point game with 11 seconds left, and the Mammoths were unable to score on their final possession as Springfield held on for the win.

Springfield will play again on Tuesday when it hosts Williams at 5 pm.

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