BENNINGTON, VT - Freshman point guard Joa Claircius (Clermont, Fla.) had a career-high 35 points and Julia Fagan (New Britain, Conn.) ripped down 21 rebounds to spark Southern Vermont College to a 66-60 victory over Anna Maria College at the SVC Field House on Thursday night.

 

Thursday's game was kept close because of the long-range shooting of AMC. The AMCATS connected on eight of their 15 attempts from three-point range, including four by freshman Amanda Hevy (North Brookfield) - whose final trey gave the visitors their last chance by pulling them within four, 62-58, with 48 seconds remaining.

 

But a pair of free throws by Claircius and a fast-break lay-up by Shaniece Delgado sent the Mountaineers to their second consecutive victory within a span of three days.

 

SVC held a slim 44-43 lead when the Mountaineers began their statement run with just over 14 minutes remaining in the second half. Freshman and Vermont native Alyssa Davis kick-started the spurt with a three-ball from the right wing, and Claircius kept it going by turning an inbounds pass from Julia Fagan into a driving lay-up for two. 

 

The AMCATS answered behind a jumper from sophomore Emily Nugent (a team-high 16 points), but SVC took command behind two Claircius steals and transition layups with four straight points by Fagan in-between. A defensive rebound was then outletted football-style to a cherry-picking Claircius for another easy deuce that capped the run with the Mountaineers ahead, 51-35.

 

The AMCATS wouldn't go quietly, however; Nugent stopped SVC's run with a free throw then canned a triple from the left corner to get AMC going on a run of their own. But Fagan crashed the AMC party by gathering the ensuing inbounds pass and rocketing coast-to-coast for an easy layup.

 

AMC mounted its most sustained offensive attack of the game over the next 4:40, to the tune of a 14-3 run behind a pair of threes by Hevy and four points each from Nugent and Maggie Sielawa (nine points). But Fagan was once again the antidote for the AMCATS, as she ripped down a critical offensive rebound - one of her game-high 21 boards - to keep one of her team's offensive possessions alive.

 

Anna Maria head coach Charlie Noonan called his team's final timeout with 1:37 remaining and his team trailing by three, 58-55. Com ing out of the timeout, Claircius promptly stole the ball and took it the other way for a layup to thwart the AMC comeback attempt.

 

The Mountaineers will try to make it three in a row when they travel to Worcester Polytechnic Institute next Tuesday for a 7:30 p.m. tilt. The AMCATS will take the court again on Saturday when they host Lesley University at 1:00 pm.