Defense, Depth Lift Herkimer Women to Road Win Over Mohawk Valley

On a frigid afternoon in Utica, the Herkimer Women's basketball team traveled to rival Mohawk Valley for a key Region 3 matchup on Saturday.  A finally healthy Generals squad would earn an impressive 76-62 win in dominating fashion.

Herkimer trailed in the opening quarter, but early layups by Freshman Ava Nicholson (Brooklyn, NY), and a big three-pointer from Sophomore Angelina Deitz (Schnectady, NY), would give Herkimer a 13-10 lead at the end of the first.  In the second, Herkimer increased its lead, tallying 25 points in the quarter behind 9 pts from Freshman Amiya Carter (Newark, NJ) and defense from Freshman Jordan Bellinger (Oneonta, NY), who grabbed 4 steals leading to easy buckets.  

Herkimer as a whole played an impressive defensive game, allowing only a few three-pointers and capturing 14 steals.  Freshman Center Junel Beaubrun (Brooklyn, NY), was a force inside with 8 rebounds, two blocks and capitalizing on great passes from her teammates for 4 points.  

The story of the day though was Carter, who would go for 27 points on 11-17 shooting, including 16 in the second half.  Mohawk Valley would put within single digits once, but each time they cut the lead, Herkimer was able to counter, including two big fourth quarter three-pointers from Freshman Molly Rifanburg (Edmeston, NY).

Nicholson finished with 12 pts and 8 assists, Deitz 11 pts, Freshman Nevaeh Spencer (Brooklyn, NY) added 9 pt, 7 reb, 7 assists, and Freshman Brin Whiteman (Cherry Valley, NY) ended with 7 pts.  

With the win, Herkimer improved to 14-10 on the season and has the next week off before hosting back to back games versus Adirondack and Westchester.