Big First Quarter Helps Devils Down Amherst

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Senior forward Shannon Garvey scored 13 of her game-high 15 points in the second half, while the Drury girls' basketball team opened up the game on a 16-4 run to lead the Blue Devils to a 43-25 win over Amherst in the New Leadership Holiday Classic on Friday. 

Drury (4-1) started the game off strong, using a balanced attack to open up a 12-point lead at halftime. Junior forward Emily Moulton scored eight of her 10 points in the first half, while senior Ali Tatro netted six of her seven points before the break. 

"Amherst played a box-and-one defense for the entire game on [senior point guard] Danielle Racette, but our other four starters combined to score 39 points," Blue Devils head coach John Franzoni said. "Danielle had six assists to lead us to a road win over a Division 1 opponent."

Garvey picked up her game in the second half, scoring 13 of her game-high 15 points to go along with a team-high eight rebounds. Since struggling in a loss to Lee in the second game of the season, Garvey has picked up her game big time, averaging 15 points and six rebounds a game over the past three contests. Moulton and Tatro also had eight rebounds in the game, helping Drury control the boards in the second half. 

"At halftime, we talked about the 12 offensive rebounds that Amherst had in the first half, which helped to keep them in the game," Franzoni said. "We emphasized that this could not continue in the second half if we wanted to win this game. In the second half, our team did a great job of limiting Amherst to one shot and that helped us to extend our lead. We held Amherst to only two second-half offensive rebounds."

Junior guard Megan Benoit also had a solid outing for the Blue Devils, scoring seven points with four rebounds and three assists. Xin Xin Terren led Amherst by scoring nine points. 

Drury next hosts North Division rival Wahconah at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.