Women’s Basketball Falls at Amherst, 69-52 – Wesleyan University

AMHERST, Mass. – Trailing by just five at the half, the Wesleyan women’s basketball team saw their hopes of an upset dashed in the third quarter where Amherst outscored the Cardinals 22-5 before ultimately finishing off a 69-52 win on Monday night. Wesleyan drops to 3-3 in the non-conference Little Three showdown while the Mammoths improve to 5-1.
 
Wesleyan hung with Amherst in the early stages, leading 8-7 midway through the first quarter before a 7-0 Mammoth run gave the hosts a 14-8 lead. Meghan Kirck ’28 drained a jumper late in the frame to make it 16-12 at the end of one.
 
The first-year Kirck continued to keep the Cardinals in the game, as she opened the second quarter with a three-point make before scoring five points on two trips down the floor that made it 28-24 Amherst with 4:19 left in the stanza. Just as Amherst took their first double-digit lead with just over a minute remaining before halftime, Felicia Fongemie ’27 hit a triple and Maggie Smith ’25 converted a last-second putback off a Fongemie miss to make it 34-29 Mammoths at half.
 
The third quarter is where the Mammoths blew the game open, scoring 22 points on 10-for-21 shooting while holding the Cardinals to a 1-for-11 performance with five turnovers in the frame.
 
Trailing by 22 at the start of the fourth, Wesleyan managed to make it a 12-point game with just under two minutes remaining. Fongemie hit a jumper to start a 7-0 run, followed by a make from Kirck and three-pointer from Olivia Quinn ’26, but Amherst made their free throws down the stretch to close out the win.
 
Kirck led the Cardinals with 14 points on 6-for-12 shooting while Fongemie added 13 points in 36 minutes. Tori DaCosta ’25 finished with six points and eight rebounds while Smith had five points and seven rebounds.
 
The Cardinals are back in action on Friday with day one of the Courtyard by Marriott Classic. Wesleyan opens the home tournament with a 6 PM tip against Utica.