AMHERST — The Amherst College women’s basketball team will compete for the NESCAC championship.
The No. 1-ranked Mammoths earned the right to defend their title following a 58-31 victory over Wesleyan in the semifinals, Saturday afternoon at LeFrak Gymnasium.
Senior Hannah Hackley scored 11 points and reached the 1,000-point plateau in the victory.
“I’m really grateful,” Hackley said. “Especially to get it here on our home court at LeFrak, playing with such a selfless team, they made it easy. Definitely something special to be a part of.”
Amherst (26-0) will face Tufts (23-3) in the championship, Sunday at noon at LeFrak. Tufts beat Bowdoin, 60-48, to advance.
The game is a rematch of last year’s NESCAC final and national championship, both won by Amherst, which carries a 59-game win streak into Sunday’s game.
Leading the Mammoths against Wesleyan were sophomore Maddie Eck and senior Jackie Nagle, who each scored 12 points in the win.
The first quarter was back and forth as Amherst and Wesleyan traded chances throughout with the Mammoths taking a 12-11 lead into the second quarter.
It was in the second quarter when the Mammoths pulled away, outscoring the Cardinals 18-5 to take a 30-16 lead into the half.
“I think we stopped rushing and started playing our game,” Hackley said. “After that first quarter we sat down and said ‘you have to be smarter and value each possession,’ so it carried out throughout the rest of the quarters.”
Amherst held a rebounding advantage over Wesleyan as the Mammoths recorded 48 boards to the Cardinals’ 35.
“(Wesleyan’s) got size and we knew that was a factor,” Amherst coach G.P. Gromacki said. “We went after the ball, we didn’t just watch it today.”
That size translated to points on the other side of the court as Amherst tallied 38 points in the paint to Wesleyan’s 10.
The Cardinals struggled finding consistency in their shots as Amherst’s defense held them to a NESCAC Tournament record 17 percent from the field. Tara Berger pacing Wesleyan offensively with 12 points.
