GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. — The Amherst women’s basketball team is about 800 miles away from home, but it will see a familiar face on Saturday.
On Friday, Amherst (32-0) beat Christopher Newport University 66-51 in the Division III National Semifinals to set up a rematch with NESCAC rival Tufts University in the championship game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
“We have to beat a really good team tomorrow, and a team that we’re familiar with, and they’re really familiar with us,” senior Ali Doswell said.
Before they could make it to the championship game, Amherst made sure to take care of business against Christopher Newport. Amherst attacked quickly, starting the game on an 8-2 run and building up a 15-8 lead after the first quarter.
“We were prepared and ready,” Amherst coach G.P. Gormacki said. “I thought our team came out fighting to win. We came here to win two games. We had to get the first one. It was fun to watch my team perform at that level right out of the gates.”
In the second quarter, senior Ali Doswell took over, scoring 10 of her game-high 16, as the Purple and White built a 35-16 halftime lead. On Thursday, Doswell was named the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association NCAA Division III Player of the Year, and Gormacki said she showed why she earned the honor Friday.
“You saw a little bit of what Ali can do tonight, she made some huge plays defensively to get some tips and some steals, and then she made the big shots when it looked like we weren’t playing as well, Ali made the play,” Gormacki said. “She can go inside and outside as well as anyone I’ve coached.”
In the second half, Amherst continued to dictate play, growing the lead as large as 24 in the fourth quarter.
“It was really important from a couple different standpoints. One, we got to rest our starters and main people off the bench. Number two, it’s a great experience to get everyone in and play in a Final Four,” Gormacki said. “It means a lot to them, and they did an outstanding job with it. They performed well at a high level, which will only give them confidence either tomorrow or next year.”
Ten Amherst players scored in the win. In addition to Ali Doswell’s 16, Meredith Doswell added eight points and eight rebounds while Madeline Eck had 11 points as well. Amherst won the battle on the boards 27-22, and Meredith Doswell said getting everyone chipping in was a big part to their success.
“Christopher Newport was definitely a very physical team, but we just had to make sure we were getting bodies on people in the paint,” Meredith Doswell said. “It was a physical game, but we’ve dealt with physical teams before.”
Christopher Newport was led by Sam Porter’s 16 points while Zhara Tannor and Devon Byrd added seven each.
“(Amherst) has a lot of experience. They’ve been here and they knew what to expect. They came out and did a nice job from the start,” CNU coach Bill Broderick said. “I thought we came out and didn’t really play our game to start with. I thought we were a little tentative.”
Now Amherst turns its attention to the National Championship and a rivalry game.
In the first semifinal on Friday, Tufts rallied from a 10-point deficit with 6:21 left in the fourth quarter to beat St. Thomas, 60-57. Amherst beat Tufts twice during the season, 36-35 on Feb. 4 and 41-37 in the NESCAC title game on Feb. 26.
Ali Doswell said the team is preparing for a tough game tomorrow.
“It’s not going to be easy, and the rivalry runs deep with them. We know what they do and they know what we do, it just comes down to who can execute the best out there tomorrow,” Ali Doswell said.
Gormacki said this is why teams prepare, so they can have games like this.
“We’ve been preparing for this moment for a long time,” Gormacki said. “It’s going to be a fun one, for sure.”