AMHERST — The No. 1 Amherst College women’s basketball team beat No. 12 Tufts 44-40 to win its third straight NESCAC championship and further its win streak to 60 games Sunday afternoon at LeFrak Gymnasium.
Sophomore guard Madeline Eck fnished with a team-high 17 points for Amherst (27-0), including the Mammoth’s final five points.
Amherst and Tufts have met in each of the past three NESCAC championship games, and the Mammoths won all three plus last year’s National Championship matchup.
“We know that they’re a fierce competitor, they’re very talented and they always give us a game,” Eck said. “We really had to fight it out with them.”
With the score deadlocked at 39-39 near the end of regulation, Eck hit a big 3-pointer to make it 42-39. Tufts added a basket on the charity stripe on its next possession, but both squads failed to knock down shots in their next couple of chances.
There were 15 seconds on the clock when the Mammoths had their chance to close out the contest.
Eck was fouled and with the opportunity to make it a two-possession game. She sunk both free throws, clinching the league championship for Amherst.
“Honestly nothing,” Eck said. “I try not to think too much and try to just let it happen.”
Trailing 23-21 at halftime, the Mammoths caught fire at the beginning of the third quarter, going on an 8-0 run, to take a 29-23 lead.
“I think that’s what got us going,” Eck said. “Momentum was going in our favor and I think it helped give us a little bit of a cushion for when they were going to make their run later on.”
Amherst also saw strong outings from Hannah Fox and Hannah Hackley, each notching eight points.
“It doesn’t matter who we play, we’re striving to win NESCAC championships, and we got a bigger one to go after now,” Mammoths coach G.P. Gromacki said.
