AMHERST, Mass. --  Dani Valdez scored a game-high 18 points and Reeya Patel added 10 as the Amherst College women's basketball team netted a 60-42 victory over SUNY-Poly in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Div. III Tournament in front of a crowd of 306 at LeFrak Gymnasium. 

The Mammoths improved to 22-3 and will face St. John Fisher (26-2) in a second round contest in LeFrak Saturday at 6 p.m. The Cardinals defeated Rhode Island College, 55-52, in Friday's other first round game at Amherst. 

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* The Mammoths jumped out to a 9-0 lead over the opening 3 minutes, 32 seconds in the first quarter and never trailed in the contest. A pair of Patel free throws got the run started and after a bit of a dry spell from both teams, Patel found Valdez in the paint and the senior hit a short jumper. After Courtney Resch grabbed a rebound off a Patel missed three, the senior forward got it back to Patel, who knocked down a 12-footer. AnLing Vera came up with a steal on the Wildcats ensuing possession and fed the rock to Resch, who calmly drained a three-pointer for the nine-point lead.

* Amherst held a 29-16 edge going into the locker room at halftime. The Mammoths began to pull away and it was Valdez leading the way in the paint. She scored a lay-in off a pass from Gabrielle Zaffiro, then on the next possession received a pass from Vera, spun and laid another bucket in. After nearly two minutes of tough defense on both sides, the Mammoths came out of a timeout and Lauren Pelosi drained a three-pointer off a pass from Valdez for a 40-20 lead. 

* Up 41-27 late in the third, Amherst constructed a 7-0 run made the final quarter a moot point. Maya Cwalina hit a short jumper off a feed from Zaffiro along the baseline. Moments later Cwalina hit another baseline jumper and then senior Jade Duval nearly brought the house down when dropped in a three-pointer - her first since her first year -- from the top of the key. That gave Amherst a 21-point lead with 32 seconds left in the stanza. The Mammoths shot a crisp 50 percent (8 of 16) from the floor in the third quarter. 



BY THE NUMBERS:

* Amherst held the Wildcats to 32 percent shooting (12 of 50) from the floor in the game while forcing them into 22 turnovers. 

* The Mammoths ball movement was in top form as they posted 18 assists on 23 field goals in the contest. Vera led the way with 5, Zaffiro 4, Patel and Valdez 3 each. 

* Duval finished with 9 points and 4 rebounds. Resch had 6 points and a couple of rebounds to along with 2 blocks, including one in the fourth quarter where she chased an opponent down the court and swatted the ball away at the last moment. Valdez's final line: 18 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 assists. 

* Molly Burdick had 12 points and 8 rebounds to lead SUNY-Poly in both categories.