Hamilton College's Sam Graber '16 poured in 25 points and the Continentals rolled to an 86-62 non-conference win against the Cazenovia College Wildcats at Hamilton's Margaret Bundy Scott Field House on Monday night.
Box Score
The Continentals (4-3 overall) hadn't scored as many as 86 points in a game since Dec. 8, 2012, in an 88-52 victory against Alfred University. Hamilton improved to 10-0 all-time against Cazenovia. Tonight was the first meeting between the programs since the 2008-09 season.
Graber was 10 of 17 from the floor and made all four of her free throws as she posted her third 20-point game this season. She added eight rebounds, a career-high seven steals and tied another career best with three blocked shots. Graber is ranked second in the NESCAC with 18.6 points per game and leads the conference with 22 steals. She moved into eighth place on the team's all-time scoring list with 1,120 career points.
Carly Gruenberg '16 dropped in 16 points, Claire Hebb '19 tied a season-high with 12 off the bench and reserve Rylie Mainville '18 added eight in just seven minutes for the Continentals. Lauren Getman '18 led all players with nine rebounds and Kate Bushell '17 was credited with a career-best four assists.
Hamilton grabbed 21 offensive rebounds and held a 45-29 advantage on the glass. The Continentals dominated inside as they enjoyed a 21-5 edge in second-chance points and scored 40 points in the paint compared to 20 for the Wildcats. Hamilton's defense blocked eight shots and came up with 14 steals, which led to 22 Cazenovia turnovers.
The Wildcats (3-4) dropped their third straight game. Skylar Girard led the team with 16 points and four steals. Kelli Shepardson contributed 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Cazenovia ended up 9 of 19 (47.4 percent) from 3-point range.
The Continentals jumped out to a 7-2 lead and never trailed. The score was tied twice, including 9-9 after Shepardson drained a 3-pointer midway through the first quarter. Hamilton scored the next eight points and led the rest of the way. Gruenberg started the spurt with a free throw, Halie Serbent '19 added a jumper and a basket from beyond the arc, and Hebb made another jumper for a 17-9 advantage with 2:52 left in the first.
Corinne Hom '16 gave the Continentals their first double-digit lead at 23-12 with a tough layup from the baseline in the closing seconds of the first quarter. With the exception of one minute early in the second quarter, Hamilton held its double-digit cushion for the rest of the night. The Continentals led 38-21 at the half as the Wildcats shot just 29.2 percent in the opening 20 minutes.
Hamilton opened up its lead to 25 points at 63-38 after three quarters and the Continentals took their largest lead of 32 points at 75-43 on a Bushell basket with 6:35 to go in the fourth. Hamilton shot nearly 59 percent (20-34) from the field during the final two quarters.
The Continentals travel to SUNY Brockport for another non-conference game on Friday, Dec. 11, at 7 p.m. Cazenovia is also on the road at SUNY Oswego on Friday.
