The Amherst women’s basketball team finished off the regular season with to back-to-back victories over Williams and Middlebury, winning 55-44 and 68-41, respectively. The victories marked Amherst’s 56th and 57th consecutive wins and ensured the Mammoths’ second consecutive undefeated regular season and, by extension, their second consecutive NESCAC regular season crown.

Senior Hannah Hackley put up 14 points in the contest against the Ephs to lead Amherst to yet another victory Williamstown. For her preformance, she earned NESCAC Athlete of the Week honors.

Williams trailed the entire game, but never let the Mammoths run away with it, keeping its turnovers to a minimum and receiving valuable contributions off the bench. Amherst’s ability to out-rebound the hosts and dominate the paint proved invaluable in keeping the Ephs at bay — Jackie Nagle ’18 snagged 11 rebounds and put up 10 points as the spear-point of the Mammoths’ dominance down low.

At the final whistle of the hard-fought contest, the scoreboard read 55-44 in favor of the Mammoths, who clinched a remarkable eighth consecutive victory over their hated rivals.

The next afternoon, Amherst travelled north to face Middlebury in the final game of the regular season, having already clinched the regular season crown and thus only playing to keep their perfect season alive.

Hannah Fox ’20 led Mammoths in scoring with 16 points, and Hackley was close behind with 15, the two players combining for nearly half of Amherst’s total points.

Emma McCarthy ’19E led all rebounders, snagging the few offensive boards that were available in the wake of Amherst’s hot shooting and also adding 11 points.

A monster third quarter pushed the Mammoths far ahead of the Panthers, as the visitors put together a 13-5 run in the first five minutes of the frame. The lead grew to as many as 26 points after a three from junior Meghan Sullivan with 11 seconds left in the third. The Mammoths maintained this margin and returned home with a dominant 68-41 win.

The Mammoths, who went 10-0 in NESCAC play, earned the top seed in the conference tournament and will host Trinity in the NESCAC quarterfinals on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 2 p.m.