AMHERST — Hannah Fox knows what the Final Four feels like.
The Amherst College lacrosse midfielder has won national championships the past two seasons with the women’s basketball program. In fact, the team hasn’t lost in Fox’s first two years.
Despite being just a sophomore, Fox’s experience carries weight in the lacrosse locker room as the second-ranked Mammoths prepare for the Sweet 16. They’ll face NESCAC foe Wesleyan at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
“Every play could be your last and you have to bring it all,” Fox said. “I’ve been trying to help show people what I’ve experienced and we have something really great in front of us to do the best that we can.”
Amherst held a team meeting this week and ruminated on the idea of playing in the NCAA Tournament and how few teams are left. Amherst coach Christine Paradis asked Fox to speak to the team about her experience.
Fox focused on how the Mammoths overcame the adversity of individual situations. Other than their opening game in the 2018 basketball tournament, a 61-12 win over Becker, Amherst trailed at some point in every game.
“You can’t let adversity step in the way,” Fox said. “If you’re prepared and we’re a skilled team, and we take pride in both of those, all we need to do is know each fight could be the most important fight.”
Playing Wesleyan on Saturday is the most important game of Amherst’s season, it’s over if they lose, but the Mammoths have treated each game this year as their most important. They hung a clock in the locker room that winds down to the opening faceoff of their next game.
“We kept our eye on what was immediately in front of us,” Paradis said. “Everything is about the next game.”
Wesleyan beat the No. 12 and No. 18 teams in its regional to reach this point. The No. 14 Cardinals (12-6) lost to Amherst 8-6 in early April when the teams played in the regular season.
“We didn’t have a great game as a team,” Amherst senior Julia Crerend said. “A lot of what Saturday will be proving we can do a lot more. There are concrete goals because I think we have some regrets about the way we played last time.”
Amherst turned the ball over 21 times and committed 20 fouls.
“I think we are the better team,” Paradis said. “I think we let them get under our skin the first time. We’re fully prepared for what we’re going to see.”
The Mammoths will approach the game with balance and depth. They have eight players with at least 20 points. Crerend scored 52 goals, while first year Claire Dunbar has 26 goals and 31 assists, which led the conference.
Sabrina Solow is the NESCAC defender of the year, and Maya Noyes won the NESCAC rookie of the year after tallying 49 points.
“Nobody tries to face guard anybody on our team because everybody else can score,” Paradis said.
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.