BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Northampton women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought contest to Montgomery County Community College on Saturday afternoon, falling 74-67 to the nationally-ranked Mustangs at the Arthur L. Scott Center. 

The Spartans, who lost to the Mustangs 88-47 on December 14th, battled their in-state rival for 40 minutes on Saturday, falling just short down the stretch.

"This program is not about moral victories," remarked Head Coach Carly Gallagher, "but I couldn't be prouder of the effort these kids gave today.  Montgomery dominated us in December, and this afternoon we gave ourselves an opportunity to win the game."

Montgomery had a big advantage on the backboards, especially on the offensive end where they hauled down 21 offensive rebounds, "We need to do a better job not giving up 2nd and 3rd shots," commented Gallagher, "but overall I was pleased with our defensive intensity."

Anisha Sepulveda (Lancaster, PA/JP McCaskey) led the Spartans with 26 points, 6 assists and 5 steals, Layla Sweatte (Allentown, PA/William Allen) had 15 points and Heaven Dubois (Lancaster, PA/JP McCaskey) finished with 13 points and 9 rebounds. 

The loss drops Northampton to 13-8 overall, 10-6 in Region 19 and 1-2 in the EPAC.

Montgomery, which received votes in the latest NJCAA poll, improves to 18-2 overall, 16-2 in the Region and 3-0 in the EPAC.

Things don't get any easier for the Spartans, as they hit the road on Tuesday to face nationally-ranked RCSJ-Gloucester in Sewell, NJ at 5pm.