SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- Junior guard Alex Twomey poured in a career-high 27 points and the Mount Holyoke College basketball team won its third straight game for the first time since 2013 with a 67-58 victory over Bard College on Saturday.
The Lyons (3-9) already have their most wins since the 2014-15 season; their last three-game win streak led off their 2013-14 campaign.
"We're really happy and having a good time," said sophomore forward Sofia Francisco (Boston, Mass.), who blocked a career-high seven shots and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. "After the game, [first-year guard Ania McMichael] pulled us all together and said, 'This is the new normal. This is Mount Holyoke basketball, and we're going to be a winning team that fights hard the whole game and plays four great quarters of basketball.'"
Twomey (Nutley, N.J.) made 7-of-13 shots from the field and knocked down 12-of-17 free throws, the second-most free throw attempts in Lyons history. She exceeded her previous career-high by five points and totaled the most points by a Lyon since Katlyn Grover scored 31 points against Pine Manor on Nov. 19, 2017.
Mount Holyoke made 30-of-43 free throws in the game while Bard shot 5-10 at the line, in the largest statistical disparity of the game. The Lyons also outscored the Raptors 25-11 in points off turnovers.
Francisco led the Lyons to a 48-35 advantage on the boards.
"Even when we didn't get the results that we wanted in the first nine games, we felt like a cohesive team, and now we're jelling even more than we did, and we're pulling out those wins and playing team basketball," said Francisco. "So, I knew from the start of the season that we were going to pick it up and get these wins."
Senior Cal McGonagle (Yarmouth, Maine) helped the Lyons close out the win with a big fourth quarter, including six points, four rebounds and three steals. McGonagle finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, five steals and three assists. Sophomore Hannah Goen (New London, N.H.) totaled 10 points and seven rebounds in the win.
McMichael (Glastonbury, Conn.) sparked the Lyons again in only her second collegiate game, totaling nine points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists.
Lexi Miller had 18 points and nine rebounds to lead Bard (2-8). Aislynn Dixon had 13 points and four assists, and Shirley Dong had 10 points and three assists.
Mount Holyoke outscored Bard 24-16 in the second quarter, including a 12-2 run that turned a 20-12 deficit into a 24-22 lead with 2:45 to go in the half. A pair of free throws by Twomey sent the Lyons into halftime with a 33-27 lead, having outscored the Raptors 17-5 over the final seven minutes.
The Lyons continued their momentum to begin the third quarter, outscoring the Raptors 13-6 in the first 4:41 for a game-high 13 points lead at 46-33.
Trailing 51-43 to start the fourth quarter, Bard quickly chipped away with six straight points, including back-to-back jumpers by Dong that made it 53-51 with 8:31 to go. McGonagle responded with a pair of free throws, followed by a steal that led to a three-point play by Twomey. After a free throw and a layup by McGonagle, Mount Holyoke's lead had returned to double digits (61-51).
Bard made a final 7-1 run to make it a three-point game (61-58) with 44 seconds to go. But Mount Holyoke made five trips to the foul line thereafter, making 6-of-10 shots to ice the win.
Mount Holyoke next hosts Colby-Sawyer in Thursday at 12pm. Bard plays at Union in a Liberty League game on Tuesday at 5:30pm.
