Women's Basketball Finish Strong and Look to Dominate Postseason
By
Kelly Karczewki ’18
,
Staff Writer
Issue
145-15
  |   Wed, 02/17/2016 - 00:25
Amherst Athletics
Junior guard Ali Doswell is averaging a team-leading 13.3 points on 43.1 percent shooting. In addition, she is averaging 5.3 rebounds per contest.

The Amherst women’s basketball team had no trouble getting back on track after its devastating first home loss to NESCAC rival Tufts at the end of last week. This week, the purple and white powered past both Middlebury and Hamilton to finish out the regular season with a nearly perfect 23-1 record overall.

Up in Middlebury, Vermont, the squad was able to get off to an early, sizeable lead with help from junior Ali Doswell, who scored a whopping 16 points in the first 20 minutes.

By the time the half-time whistle rang, the purple and white were already up by 36 points with a score of 46-10. In the first half, the team displayed strong defensive play and were able to keep the panthers in single digits for both the first and second quarters.

The second half was characterized by a relentless Amherst offense led by Doswell, who finished the game with 18, sophomore Jackie Nagle putting up 16 and Meredith Doswell ’17, who added another 10.

In addition to these offensive efforts, the purple and white forced the panthers into a whopping 34 turnovers. The final scoreline of 77-24 highlighted the purple and white’s sheer dominance on both ends of the floor.

In their last game of the regular season, the purple and white traveled up to Clinton, New York to face off against NESCAC-rival Hamilton.

The Continentals took a 5-1 lead early in the first quarter, but the advantage quickly disintegrated with a balanced offensive attack presented by Nagle, Hannah Hackley ’18 and Haley Zwecker ’16. Hamilton did not gain the lead back for the rest of the contest. At halftime the score stood at 27-16, and the purple and white continued their confident play into the second half, finishing the game with a 17-point advantage at 55-38.

Highlighting the end of the regular season, Ali Doswell reached her 999th career point, just one short of the 1,000-point mark. The purple and white go into the post-season with a 23-1 record, earning themselves a No. 2 seed in the NESCAC tournament. They match up against No.7 Bates at 2 p.m. this Saturday, Feb. 20.