Women’s basketball rebounded from its first loss in a big way, handing Middlebury a 65-45 loss before demolishing Trinity in the NESCAC Championship quarterfinals on Saturday, 80-34.
The sixth-ranked Lord Jeffs (24-1, 9-1 NESCAC) pulled away late against Middlebury with strong defense and dominated all facets of the game against the Bantams to put the team in prime position to secure their fourth straight NESCAC title game appearance.
Women’s basketball’s 22-game win streak came to an abrupt halt in Williamstown on Sunday as the Ephs used a first-half run and strong individual performances to deal the Lord Jeffs their first loss of the season, 71-51. The loss, Amherst’s first against the Ephs in 11 contests, drops the third-ranked Lord Jeffs (22-1, 8-1 NESCAC) into a three-way tie atop the conference.
Women’s basketball finds itself alone atop the NESCAC after handing Tufts its first loss in a thrilling top-five matchup on Saturday. The 54-48 victory, coupled with double-digit wins over Wesleyan and Bates earlier in the week, leaves the team undefeated with just two games remaining before postseason play begins.
Wesleyan only lost by four points in its January meeting with the Lord Jeffs, but the Cardinals (9-10, 2-6 NESCAC) average the second-fewest points per game in the conference and had no answers against Amherst’s stifling defense.
Women’s basketball picked up where it left off after the break, improving to 19-0 and winning its first six conference games. After a Marcia Voigt ’13 buzzer-beater against then-undefeated Simpson and a couple of close games against Wesleyan and Conn. College, the third-ranked Lord Jeffs won four of their next seven games by over 15 points and now sit atop the NESCAC tied with fourth-ranked Tufts, who they will play at home on Saturday. Amherst starts the season 13-0 or better for the sixth straight year and has won a remarkable 96 of its last 100 games.
It may have been a week off from NESCAC play for the women’s basketball team, but the squad took care of business, staying undefeated last week with road wins over Keene State and Skidmore.
The team dominated Keene State throughout en route to a 23-point win on Tuesday before pulling away from Skidmore in the second half for a 64-36 victory on Saturday. With the wins, the ninth-ranked Lord Jeffs open the season 5-0 for the sixth straight year.
Women’s basketball opened the season in convincing style over the break, beating Brooklyn and 25th-ranked William Paterson to win the Amherst Tip-Off Tournament before coasting to a 30-point blowout of Mount Holyoke.
The Lady Jeffs went into their season opener ranked 15th nationally and coming off their fourth straight Final Four appearance. The team lost four starters from last year’s squad to graduation, but it hardly seemed to matter against Brooklyn as the Jeffs built a 15-point halftime lead and went on to win 67-42.
Field hockey’s season came to an end in heartbreaking fashion on Saturday, as the Lord Jeffs pushed first-ranked Middlebury to the brink before falling in overtime of the NESCAC semifinals, 3-2.
The 12th-ranked Lord Jeffs were then passed over for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, officially ending the season at 11-5 (6-4 NESCAC).
