Doswell Nets Career High 34 Points as No. 4/4 Amherst Advances Past Rowan

GLASSBORO, N.J. – Ali Doswell '17 erupted for a collegiate career-high and game-best 34 points to lead the No. 4/4 Amherst College women's basketball team past Rowan University, 78-57 in Saturday evening's NCAA Division III Championship Second Round tilt at ESBY Gymnasium in Glassboro, N.J.

With the win, Amherst improves to 28-1 on the season and advances to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen for the ninth consecutive season. Rowan concludes its season, 23-6 overall. The Purple & White will take on Stevens Institute of Technology (23-6) Friday, March 11.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Amherst shot 48.4% from the field and 33.3% from the free throw line, highlighted by Ali Doswell's 13-for-25 effort from the floor. The Richmond, Va. native cashed in 34 points on the strength of six makes from beyond-the-arc, and added six rebounds, while Meredith Doswell '17 notched eight points and hauled in a game-high 16 rebounds.
• Hannah Hackley '18 and Haley Zwecker '16 added 10 points each in the win, while Hackley and Jaimie Renner '17 dished out four assists each.
• Rowan was led by Anyssa Sanchez who scored a team-best 13 points, while Kate Matthews and Valerie Garofalo followed with 12 and 10 points respectively.
• Matthews added a team-best nine rebounds in the losing effort for the Profs who shot 41% from the floor but just 20% from three-point range.

FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS

• The first quarter saw Rowan register an early 4-2 lead as Matthews hit a jumper, and Sanchez delivered a layup, but the lead was short-lived as Meredith Doswell powered in a bucket in the paint, followed by a pair of Ali Doswell free throws to give Amherst a 6-4 lead which it would not relinquish.
• With 1:33 to play in the opening stanza, Garofalo made a layup to pull the Profs to within four (15-11), but that's as close as they would get as the Purple & White closed out the frame on a 7-2 run to stake a 22-13 lead after 10 minutes.
• Rowan answered with the first six points of the second quarter highlighted by a pair of three-point plays by Garofalo and Sanchez, but Amherst used a pair of Ali Doswell and Cheyenne Pritchard '16 treys, and six points from Zwecker to fuel a 20-8 run by the Purple & White which resulted in a 44-29 lead at intermission.

SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS

• Amherst continued to pull away in the third quarter as Ali Doswell scored seven of the team's 15 points in the period, while Matthew accounted for eight of the Profs' 11 points in the stanza.  
• The Purple & White fired its final salvo early in the fourth quarter, as Hackley made a layup, and Ali Doswell and Meredith Doswell both made baskets, before a trey by Ali Doswell with 7:27 to play in regulation gave the visitors a commanding, 26-point 68-42 advantage which proved to be their largest lead of the game.
• From there, Amherst was able to keep Rowan at bay as the Purple & White cruised to their 78-57 victory.   

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Amherst now improves to 31-10 all-time in NCAA postseason play dating back to 2008.