The women’s basketball team is off to a strong start for the 2013-14 season, posting four impressive out-of-conference wins over the past two weeks.
In the season opener on Nov. 19, three Jeffs scored in the double-digits as they defeated Keene State, 67-52.
This win extended the Jeffs home winning streak to 87 games.
After a dominant second half, Amherst is now 13-2 all time against the Owls.
Cheyenne Pritchard ’16, Marley Giddins ’16 and Meredith Doswell ’17 all posted double-digits to lead the Jeffs to the win, while junior forward Megan Robertson led the Jeffs in blocks.
In their second game of the season, Amherst took on Skidmore, beating them 63-52, with Megan Robertson ’15 tying her career high of 25 points.
Both teams struggled to find the basket in the opening minutes of the first half, and eventually the Thoroughbreds went up on the board first with a Molly McLaughlin three-pointer.
The Jeffs gained back control late in the half, however, starting with a rebound by Giddins that sent her to the free-throw line after being fouled.
Sophomore Haley Zwecker fueled the momentum by hitting a big three-pointer at just over two minutes before halftime.
The Jeffs went into the break up one point and held the lead through the second half to end the game strong.
As Amherst students returned home for Thanksgiving break, the Jeffs remained on campus to compete in their Saturday, Nov. 23 game against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in LeFrak Gymnasium as a part of the 2013 Amherst Tip-Off Tournament.
This time, it was Giddins who matched her career high of 18 points, leading Amherst to an 80-57 victory.
Giddins was also one point shy of tying her career benchmark in rebounds, posting 11 in the game.
Amherst also saw a stellar performance from its bench, holding a decisive 42-16 scoring edge over RPI.
“The best part about our team is that on any given night a different player can step up,” co-captain Pritchard said. “We have so many girls with different strengths and talents.”
The Jeffs scored 18 points off of 21 RPI turnovers and posted a 42-36 rebounding advantage.
The following day (Nov. 24), the Jeffs took on Ithaca College, with first-year Jaimie Renner’s 18 points and Robertson’s double-double leading them to the 66-44 victory.
Robertson finished with 14 points, 10 boards and three blocks, and she was named Tournament MVP for her efforts.
Renner received All-Tournament Honors for her performance. Collectively, the Jeffs shot 45.8 percent from the field while holding Ithaca to 35.3 percent.
Amherst took the early lead, up 19-11 only ten minutes into the first half. The Jeffs outscored Ithaca 10-0 over a span of 3:06 towards the end of the first-half, consisting of points from Giddins, Renner, and first-year twins Meredith and Ali Doswell.
Down 16 at the half, Ithaca made a valiant effort to narrow the gap and get themselves back in the game. But another 11-4 run from the Jeffs kept Ithaca behind and ultimately led to the Amherst win.
“Ithaca is a great team with a lot of strength and very smart players, so it was a huge game for us,” Pritchard said. “Jaimie and Megan really got our offense going, and the overall feel of our offense was better, but we saw on film that there is a lot of work left to do.”
With four wins under their belts, the Jeffs are eager to see where this season takes them.
“We graduated three starters last year, which left a lot of positions open at the beginning of the season,” Pritchard said. “Our team is young, but there has never been a National Championship team without a senior, so it’s just another record we’re trying to beat.”
The Jeffs continued their dominance at home Tuesday night as they downed a nationally ranked Emmanuel team that has beaten some quality opponents already this season 77-56.
Amherst returns to action on Thursday, Dec. 5 in LeFrak Gymnasium to take on Emmanuel.
