The women’s basketball team is off to a blazing start this season with an undefeated record. Going into the week, the Jeffs looked to defend their perfect record, ddtaking on Eastern Connecticut State on Thursday, Dec. 4 at home and Bridgewater State on Saturday, Dec. 6 on the road.

Defend it they did. On Thursday night, the team defeated the Warriors with sophomore Ali Doswell, and junior Marley Giddins, leading the charge. Doswell led the team in points with 21 while also contributing seven rebounds. Giddins chipped in with a double-double, consisting of 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Sophomore Jaimie Renner also contributed points in the double figures, with 11 tallies and a game-high of five assists.
Game highlights included a Doswell layup made with 5:17 remaining until the intermission, a score that gave Amherst their first double-digit lead of the day.

Despite a late comeback run by the Warriors in the final seven minutes of play, in which they shrunk the Jeff’s lead from 23 points to four with the help of Jill Ritrosky’s 21 points, Amherst largely dominated the game. At the final whistle, the score stood 66-51, improving the Jeffs’ record to 5-0.

Amherst continued their winning ways on Saturday as they made it six straight, cruising past Bridgewater State 71-46.

It was a total team effort, as three Jeffs scored in double digits. Again, Doswell fueled the team with 17 points and four assists, followed closely by sophomore Hannah Peterson’s 15 points and Giddins’ 13 points.

Meredith Doswell ’17 contributed a game high of five assists while her sister Ali, Peterson and Renner all added four. It was a selfless game for the Jeffs overall as they held a 22-9 assists advantage over the Bears.

Amherst gained control early and maintained it throughout the game, jumping out to an impressive 15-5 lead just over three minutes into game action.

They continued to dominate in the second half of play as the half opened with a three from Renner and a forced turnover converted by Peterson into two points for the Jeffs.

In addition to the domination in assists, Amherst maintained a 37 to 24 advantage in rebounds and forced 21 turnovers.

Bridgewater’s Vanesa Conceicao tried her best to chip away at Amherst’s lead, dropping 13 points in the game, but in the end she was no match for the Jeffs.

“It was a big week for us and we managed to get both wins. Right now we need to focus on improving so we can put together a full40 minutes of playing well,” Doswell said.

The team currently stands at fourth in the national rankings and second regionally. They look to maintain their perfect record and ascend in the rankings this Wednesday against Rhode Island College. The Jeffs will battle the seventh-ranked Anchormen in LeFrak at 6 p.m.