AMHERST — The Amherst College women’s basketball team advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III Tournament after beating Saint Joseph’s of Maine, 53-47, Saturday night at LeFrak Gymnasium.
Sophomore Hannah Fox scored nine of her 18 points in the fourth quarter, giving the Mammoths (29-0) breathing room against the Monks (28-2).
Amherst led 44-38 late in the fourth quarter when Fox pulled back and sank a 3-pointer with 2:57 left to push the lead to 47-38.
“I had a lot of confidence in our team,” Fox said. “I knew we could get some shots and some stops on defense so I knew we could really pull out the game.”
Fox also pulled in a team-high 11 rebounds, contributing to the Mammoths’ 38-28 edge on boards.
“We need to play better next time out but we’re fortunate and happy to move on, and Hannah made some big shots,” Mammoths coach G.P. Gromacki said.
Amherst snagged 17 offensive boards, including a few late in regulation to extend possessions. Saint Joseph’s had nine offensive boards.
“We had some huge offensive rebounds where we just found a way to get in there and put a couple in to extend the lead,” Gromacki said. “They were big baskets that just gave us a little bit of a cushion.”
Monks junior Kelsi McNamara finished with 30 points.
The Monks converted on 43 percent of their first-half field goals, while the Mammoths hit just 32 percent.
McNamara led all scorers with 13 at the half. Jackie Nagle led Amherst with seven.
It was in the second half where the Mammoths started their push, outscoring the Monks 15-9 in the third quarter to give themselves a 40-33 lead.
Fox then caught fire and scored nine of the last 13 points for Amherst.
“I would say some shots just started falling,” Fox said. “You’re getting open looks and we needed to hit some shots together. It wasn’t by any means one, two or three players it was all five on the court at a time and the people who came in, we all worked the ball around pretty well and got people open.”
Sophomore Madeline Eck had 13 points and four assists in the victory, while senior Hannah Hackley netted eight points.
The Mammoths will play Montclair State (25-3) in the third round. Montclair beat Gettysburg, 70-45.
