The Amherst College women's basketball team is getting the hang of reaching the Sweet 16.
The Lord Jeffs tied the school record for victories in a season and reached the third round of the NCAA Division III Tournament for the third straight year by defeating visiting Southern Maine 76-49 Saturday at LeFrak Gymnasium. Sophomore Lem Atanga McCormick paced Amherst (29-0) with 20 points, 16 of those in the first half.
Amherst will find out Sunday the location of the sectional round and whether or not it will play host. With two more victories, the Jeffs will reach their second straight Final Four. Last year's Final Four team also won 29 games.
Caroline Stedman chipped in with 10 points, as the Jeffs went out to an early 7-0 lead and never looked back.
Amherst's archrival, Williams, also was a second-round winner Saturday. The Ephs defeated DeSales 94-77.
WOMEN'S LACROSSE
AIC 20, St. Thomas Aquinas 8: American International College knows how to mine talent from Western Massachusetts.
A quintet of local players had multiple-point days for the Yellow Jackets in an impressive home victory. Sophomores Courtney Szawlowski of Leeds led the way with four goals and three assists. Senior Katie Warner of Westfield extended her team-leading points total to 12 with three goals and two assists.
Sophomore Ashley Szawlowski, also of Leeds, had three goals and an assist, while sophomore defenseman Katie Carr, of Florence, buried three goals. Junior Alex Hudyka of East Longmeadow added a goal and two assists.
Junior goalie Gina Gallo of Westfield made seven saves as the Yellow Jackets improved to 2-0.
WNEC 22, Mount Holyoke 13: Senior midfielder Lindsay Fenton of Pelham tallied four goals and two assists as visiting Western New England College picked up its fourth straight win over Mount Holyoke. Nine Golden Bears scored in the victory.
Sophomore Katie Toomy found the net five times, and senior Jackie Gannon put away four chances for 1-2 WNEC.
Junior Clara Raugei led Mount Holyoke (0-1) with four goals and an assist. Hilary Bombard and Peggy Wefald scored twice each.
Westfield State 20, Lasell 6: The local players are serving Westfield State well also.
Rachel Dionne and Carly Keeley, both of Feeding Hills, scored four and three goals, respectively, as the host Owls won their season opener. Becca Kelley of Westfield had a goal and three assists. Laura Chiricosta led Westfield with five goals and two assists.
WOMEN'S HOCKEY
Amherst 3, Bowdoin 2 (OT): Sidney Crosby isn't the only Canadian scoring huge overtime goals lately.
Freshman Geneva Lloyd, of Calgary, Alberta, notched the game-winner for host Amherst in a New England Small College Athletic Conference semifinal at Orr Rink. Courtney Hanlon scored two goals to help the Jeffs (20-2-4) erase a 2-0 third-period deficit.
Amherst peppered Bowdoin goalie Kayla Lessard with 52 shots, while the Jeffs' Caroline Hu saw just 20.
Amherst, which defeated Bowdoin for the third time this season, will face either Trinity or Middlebury in Sunday's championship game.
BASEBALL
WNEC 11, Farmingdale 1: Senior first baseman Joe Griglun slapped three hits and drove in three runs as visiting WNEC won its season opener at Farmingdale, N.Y. Junior Evan Michaud gave the Golden Bears a solid outing on the mound, going six innings with five hits, no walks and an unearned run.
Senior center fielder Steve Kearney added three hits, a run scored and an RBI. Junior third baseman Tony Trubia singled, tripled and drove in thre runs, and sophomore Tom Bouvier of East Longmeadow had two hits and an RBI.
Saint Leo 29, AIC 8: Paul Maza and Dan Bassani each had solo home runs for AIC, but a 15-run eighth inning by host Saint Leo (Fla.) put the game out of reach in the Yellow Jackets' season opener.
Dan Mooney was 3 for 4 with two doubles and three RBIs for AIC, while Julian Concepcion went 3 for 5 with two doubles. Maza and Bassani each collected two hits. Ryan Powers drove in nine runs in a 5-for-7 day for Saint Leo (7-11).
SOFTBALL
UMass takes two: Carly Normandin had two hits in each game as the University of Massachusetts defeated Virginia Tech 3-0 and South Florida 6-5 at the USF Under Armour Invitational in Clearwater, Fla. Sarah Reeves drove in three runs against South Florida, while Whitney Williams plated two in the Virginia Tech game as the Minutewomen improved to 10-4.
Elms drops pair: Kim Lastowski of Turners Falls belted a two-run homer for Elms in a 15-6 loss to Bethany Lutheran as the Blazers opened play at the Gene Cusic Classic in Fort Myers, Fla. Elms also lost to Anna Maria 1-0, despite a three-hitter by righty hurler Courtney Hampton of Westfield.
AIC loses twice: Katie Elie had two hits for AIC in a 1-0 loss to Millersville at the National Training Center in Clermont, Fla. The Yellow Jackets (0-2) also lost 10-6 to Dominican.
INDOOR TRACK
Another mark for SC star: Springfield College's Steve Headley, of Wilbraham, set the meet record and improved on his national-best time of 6.28 seconds to win the 55-meter dash at the ECAC Championships at Smith College.
Ithaca (N.Y.) College won both the men's and women's team titles.
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