The fourth-ranked Amherst College women’s basketball team is now 6-0 following three victories this week. The purple and white first took on Emmanuel College Tuesday night for a 59-48 win, then traveled to Willimantic, Connecticut on Thursday, where they got a narrow win over Eastern Connecticut State, and finally played a blowout victory over Bridgewater State on Saturday.
At LeFrak Gymnasium on Tuesday night, Emmanuel gave the purple and white the best battle they had had so far this season, even taking a 6-0 lead at the beginning of the game.
Sophomore Jackie Nagle had the first points for the purple and white at the 3:30 mark, putting the rest of the team into action and jumpstarting a 12-2 run in the remainder of the quarter.
“We were a little slow to get going but we are persistent and trust each other,” Nagle said. “We know our roles and work well together we just had to execute and that’s how we handled the adversity and kept our composure.”
Amherst easily controlled the second quarter, and at the end of the first half the score had extended to a 32-21 score in favor of the purple and white.
The second half featured stand out play from Marley Giddins ’16 and juniors Ali and Meredith Doswell, who were able to keep the lead significant enough to leave behind Emmanuel. Giddings and Meredith Doswell were the high scorers of the game, both contributing 12 points, while A. Doswell had 9. M. Doswell also recorded a game-high 12 rebounds.
Amherst traveled from LeFrak to Willimantic, Connecticut on Thursday to take on ECSU, who were able to keep up with the fast-paced Amherst offense until the start of the third quarter, ending the first half down by only four points.
Amherst picked up the pace in the second half, not allowing ECSU to score into double digits in either the third or the fourth quarter. Ali Doswell led the scoring in the second half with 12 points, finishing the match with a game-high 22 points.
The 63-46 win marked Amherst head coach G.P. Gromacki’s 400th career victory in his 16th year of coaching.
For the third and final game of the week, Amherst hosted Bridgewater State in a big victory, claiming 115 consecutive home wins. Giddins led the point-scoring with 15, while Hannah Hackley ’18 also added 13.
Amherst also dominated the boards: Meredith Doswell led with eight rebounds, Nagle had seven and senior Cheyenne Pritchard pulled in six.
Amherst returns to the court Wednesday, Dec. 9 for an away, non-conference matchup against Rhode Island College. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
The matchup against the Rams will be Amherst’s last game before taking a break for the holidays. On Monday, Dec. 28, they’ll travel to Daytona, Florida for two days of competition against non-conference opponents.
