SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke College basketball team's stark turnaround continued on Thursday, as the Lyons defeated Colby-Sawyer College 66-59 for their fourth consecutive victory after beginning the season 0-9.
Mount Holyoke (4-9) overcame an 11-point deficit in the second quarter to retake the lead late in the third quarter, and held off the Chargers (6-8) through the fourth quarter. Their four-game winning streak is their first since Nov. 16, 2012, and the Lyons have four victories for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
Colby-Sawyer lost its eighth straight game after beginning the season with a 6-0 record.
"I think one of the big differences for us is we didn't let ourselves get down after the other team went on a run," said first-year Ania McMichael (Glastonbury, Conn.) "We came together and told ourselves, 'We're still in this game.' We bounced off each other and picked up our energy on defense, and used that to fuel our offense and work our way back into the game."
The Chargers held a 25-24 lead after a fast-paced first quarter, with Catherine Chick pouring in 10 points for the visitors on 4-of-4 shooting from the field.
Colby-Sawyer held Mount Holyoke scoreless for a stretch of more than three minutes while building a game-high 11-point lead on Lauren MacDonald's 3-pointer, which made it 37-26 with 2:23 left in the half. A layup by Emme Greenan put Colby-Sawyer ahead 39-31 going into intermission.
A 7-0 run by the Lyons early in the third quarter, featuring baskets by junior Alex Twomey (Nutley, N.J.) and sophomore Sofia Francisco (Boston, Mass.) and a 3-pointer by sophomore Hannah Goen (New London, N.H.), closed the gap to 41-38. With under four minutes left in the quarter, a three by Twomey and a steal and layup by McMichael made it a one-point game (44-43) with 3:34 left in the quarter. The Lyons then tied it with a pair of free throws by Twomey, and then went up by four with a pair of buckets underneath by Francisco. Following a three by Elyza Mitchell for Colby-Sawyer, junior Cal McGonagle (Yarmouth, Maine) drove for a layup, and Twomey finished off the quarter with a steal and a breakaway layup for a 53-48 Mount Holyoke lead going into the last 10 minutes.
Colby-Sawyer could only cut Mount Holyoke's lead to as little as three points, on a pair of free throws by Mitchell with 57 seconds remaining. McMichael and Twomey both went 2-for-2 at the line in the last minute to preserve the Lyons' winning margin.
Twomey led four Lyons in double figures with 15 points, while Francisco added 13 with a team-high seven rebounds. McMichael had 12 points, 11 assists and four steals, and McGonagle added 10 points and five steals.
Mitchell led Colby-Sawyer with 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Chick finished with 12 points and Marissa Holt produced nine points and four steals.
Shooting and rebounding numbers between the teams were nearly even, but Mount Holyoke had significant advantages in turnovers (30-22) and points off turnovers (22-12).
Mount Holyoke rose to 7-2 all-time against Colby-Sawyer, with its first win against the Chargers since the 1988-89 season. The teams last met in 2003-04.
The Lyons next play on the road at Worcester State on Monday at 7pm, before they open NEWMAC play on Saturday, Jan. 18 at home against Salve Regina.
