McBride's women's basketball team swept its way to four wins in the last two weeks to open its campaign on a high note.
"I'm very excited with the first week," said McBride. "I think much of our success has to be traced to our two captains and to the effort and energy they've put into the team."
The two captains-forward Charlotte Taylor '01 and guard Hallison Putnam '02-played important roles in each of the four wins, but the Jeffs also received stellar performances from unexpected places.
Last night, the Jeffs traveled to Western New England College and came back to Amherst with their fourth win in as many games. With a 13-point performance from Shannon Russell '04 and a 10-point performance from Putnam, the Jeffs ran away with the win, 68-37. "We were really balanced," said Taylor. "We worked together as a team and we really played well and dominated [WNEC]."
In their season opener, last Tuesday's 63-49 win over Mount Holyoke College, the Jeffs received a career-high 17 points on seven-of-13 shooting from point guard Sara Bozorg '03, including a three-for-six performance from downtown.
Russell drained four three-pointers en route to a 14-point effort in her first game for the Jeffs, but the story of the game was Amherst's inside play. The Jeffs grabbed 66 rebounds against the smaller Lyons, including 15 from rookie Sarah Bergman '04, 13 from Sarah Walker '03 and 12 from Caitlin Farrell '04. Walker also added 11 points in the game.
Farrell also came up big the following evening, when the Jeffs hit the road for a non-conference clash at Keene State College. Whereas the opener against Mount Holyoke had seen the Jeffs' starting post-players-Bergman and Walker-dominate on both ends of the court, foul trouble limited the pair to only one point and eight rebounds combined against the Owls.
Despite the foul trouble, the Jeffs took a 10-point lead into halftime, only to watch the Owls slowly chip into the Jeff insurance throughout the second half. Russell and Farrell combined for a pair of huge shots down the stretch, and the Jeffs held off Keene, 62-60.
On the evening, Russell finished with a game-high 19 points, including another four three-pointers, while Farrell added a stellar 10-point, 13-rebound performance in the win.
"We played pretty well against Keene, but I think that we need to be more aggressive on the boards," said McBride. "We need to control the tempo of the game in the half-court set, and be able to attack and probe the defense. We just haven't been getting to the foul line as much as we need to."
The same issues would come up in Saturday's away date at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), where the Jeffs survived a scare from a much smaller, less-talented Engineer squad.
The Jeffs came charging out of the gates in the first half, using an 8-0 run and a 12-2 clip to take a 22-10 lead with 3:31 left in the first half. From there, the hosts slowly chipped away at the Amherst lead, cutting the deficit to eight by halftime (26-18).
The Engineers came out on fire in the second half to keep their team even with the Jeffs.
A pair of baskets from Bergman and another from Russell gave the Jeffs a 44-33 lead with 7:03 to play, but, once more, the Engineers slowly cut into the Amherst lead.
WPI closed to within four with 3:49 to play, but the Jeffs retaliated as Bozorg hit Amherst's only three-pointer of the game on the ensuing possession.
Marissa McGuire '04 added a critical free throw late to seal the victory for the Jeffs, who received 11 points, a career-high nine rebounds and seven assists from Bozorg.
"Sara has been truly an asset for us," said McBride. "She's a coach on the floor, able to score, able to distribute the ball; she's the glue that holds us together."
Despite occasional first-week struggles, McBride is optimistic about the Jeffs chances. "It's much too early to tell how far we can go, but if we keep playing with confidence and if the chemistry continues to develop, I think we're going to surpass our expectations and surprise a lot of people."