AMHERST — The Amherst College women’s basketball team blew by Bates, 58-31, Saturday at LeFrak Gymnasium.
Senior Jackie Nagle finished with a team-high 12 points and six blocks in the senior day victory for the No. 1-ranked Mammoths (22-0, 8-0 NESCAC).
“It seemed every time (Bates) was throwing up a shot she was blocking it,” Amherst coach G.P. Gromacki said. “She played really good help defense and made some big baskets for us for sure in both halves.”
The Mammoths used a fast start that included an 11-2 run halfway through the first quarter to put Bates (7-16, 1-8 NESCAC) in an early hole that it could not climb out of.
Up 20-9 at the start of the second quarter, Amherst kept the pressure on to take a comfortable 34-16 lead into halftime.
Senior Hannah Hackley led the Mammoths with 10 points in the first 20 minutes and went 2-for-2 from 3-point range in just 15 minutes of action.
“I’m glad they came out like they did and I wasn’t surprised,” Gromacki said.
The Bobcats showed some fight in the second half, led by sophomore Melanie Binkhorst, who netted 13 points in the loss.
Amherst’s biggest advantage came in rebounds as the Mammoths hauled in 54 boards compared to Bates’ 28. Juniors Emma McCarthy (11 points) and Maeve McNamara (six points) each corralled nine rebounds to pace Amherst.
With the win, Amherst’s senior class that includes Nagle, Hackley and Jenna Schumacher, improved to 110-6 overall with a 35-3 mark in NESCAC play.
“This core has a lot of energy for us, especially seniors because this has been our home for four years now,” Nagle said. “To be able to celebrate with our teammates, our family, our past players, it’s just amazing. … It’s wild to believe we’ve decorated the gym for three years and now we walk in and our names are on the wall, it’s amazing.”
The Mammoths close out their regular season slate with road contests against Williams (Friday) and Middlebury (Saturday), before postseason action commences.
“Hopefully we can get those and then we’ll be at home the rest of the way, if we do that,” Gromacki said.
