Union College jumped out to a 20-10 lead after one quarter and the Dutchwomen held on for a 57-47 non-conference win against the Hamilton College Continentals at Hamilton's Margaret Bundy Scott Field House on Wednesday evening.
Box Score
Jenni Barra led Union (3-1 overall) with 15 points. Natalie Leone chipped in 13 points and five assists, and Abby Katz contributed 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Sam Graber '16 paced the Continentals (2-3) with a season-high 26 points and added eight rebounds and three steals. Graber moved into ninth place on the program's all-time list with 1,077 career points. She is ranked second in the NESCAC in scoring with 17.4 points per game.
Halie Serbent '19 dropped in a season-best 10 points for Hamilton. Kendall Rallins '19 handed out nine assists, which is the most by any Continental since Caroline Barrett '17 was credited with nine at Utica College on Dec. 1, 2014. Hamilton attempted just four free throws.
The Dutchwomen never trailed and took the lead for good with a 9-2 run that broke an early 4-4 tie. Katz started the spurt with a layup, Leone added a free throw and Amy Fisher nailed a jumper. After a Graber layup, Katz countered with a basket from the paint and Leone made it 13-6 with two free throws with 2:55 left in the opening quarter.
Graber opened the second quarter with a layup that pulled the Continentals within 20-12 but Union led by double digits for the last eight minutes of the quarter. A jumper by Nicole Conley with 45 seconds remaining gave the Dutchwomen a 33-16 cushion and Union took that 17-point lead into the locker room.
A 3-pointer by Barra with 8:03 to go in the third quarter put the Dutchwomen up by 22 at 40-18 -- their largest lead of the night. Hamilton was able to cut its deficit to 13 points three times late in the quarter and trailed 45-32 after three.
Baskets by Serbent and Graber in the first minute of the fourth quarter pulled the Continentals within nine points at 45-36 but they didn't get any closer than that the rest of the way.
Hamilton still leads the all-time series, 29-26. The Continentals shot 38.2 percent from the floor while Union shot 43.5 percent.
Hamilton travels to Alfred University for another non-conference game on Friday, Dec. 4, at 7 p.m. The Dutchwomen are on the road again on Thursday at SUNY Cobleskill for a 5 p.m. tip.
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