Hamilton College's Lauren Getman '18 tied a season high with 16 points and the Continentals clinched a spot in the 2015 NESCAC Championship quarterfinals with a 62-44 win against Wesleyan University at Wesleyan's Silloway Gymnasium on Friday night.
Box Score
Hamilton (12-10, 3-6 NESCAC) will either be the No. 7 or 8 seed in the conference championship and will play at Bowdoin College or Tufts University in the quarterfinals on Saturday, Feb. 21. The Cardinals (9-12, 2-7) lost their third straight game in the series against the Continentals.
Getman dropped in 16 points for the fourth time in the last six games. She also led all players with nine rebounds. Theresa Salud '17 drained three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points, and Sam Graber '16 chipped in 11. Caroline Barrett '17 added eight points, four assists and a career-best three steals.
Kaylie Williams paced Wesleyan with 11 points and Miller Hartsoe had nine. Jess Cherenza ended up with seven points and seven boards. The Cardinals shot just 29.6 percent and committed 21 turnovers.
There was a lot riding on this game as the teams knew going in that the winner would make the postseason and the loser would not. Hamilton scored the first points of the night on a three-point play by Barrett and led the whole way. Wesleyan still trailed by just two points at 21-19 after a Williams layup with 9:18 left in the half, but the Continentals finished the period with a 12-5 spurt for a 33-24 advantage at the break.
The Cardinals didn't get closer than six points in the second half, including 40-34 on a jumper by Williams with 14:23 remaining. Hamilton scored the next seven points and led by double digits the rest of the night. Barrett started the run with a 3-pointer and Graber made back-to-back baskets in the paint for a 47-34 cushion with 12:37 to go.
The Continentals took their biggest lead of the night -- 19 points -- on a Getman jumper that made it 60-41 with 4:52 left. At that point, Hamilton was well on its way to the Continentals' second straight trip to the NESCAC quarterfinals.
Hamilton travels to Connecticut College for another conference game and the team's regular season finale on Saturday, Feb. 14.
