After starting out the game against WNEC on a 20-2 run on the strength of eight points from Brooke Diamond '03, Shannon Russell '04 and LaShauna Barboza '04 poured in 12 points each for the Jeffs. Meanwhile, Farrell led the way under the boards with seven rebounds. The story of the game, however, was the Amherst defense. The Jeffs held the Golden Bears to 18.2 percent shooting from the field, snapping their five-game win streak in the process.
The Jeffs-who have had to adjust around the absences of key juniors Sara Bozorg and Sarah Walker, who are both studying abroad-seemed to have some trouble playing as a team during the season-opening overtime loss to Mount Holyoke College last Tuesday. But this week saw the squad turn a corner and Sarah Bergman '04 seemed confident in the team's upswing. "We started to pull it together this week," she said. "I think we played a lot better as a team and we're starting to adjust well."
Head Coach Billy McBride's starting five took the floor against Keene expecting a tough game against the previously undefeated Owls. The Jeffs pulled out the close win on the strength of Bergman's 21 point, 18 rebound double-double. Following Bergman, co-captain Hallison Putnam '02 and the sophomore trio of guards Barboza, Russell and center Caitlin Farrell each poured in eight points for the home team. Putnam also notched eight rebounds while Farrell and co-captain Diamond each grabbed five for Amherst.
The Owls, in turn, relied on Meghan Csizmesia's aim from behind the arc and Aly Araque's play from under the basket to power their offensive attack. The two combined for 30 points, with Csizmesia connecting on five of 15 three-point attempts. Three of Csizmesia's triples came during the game's waning minutes, closing what had been as much as an 11-point Amherst lead to just one point with eight seconds remaining. But the Jeffs held firm late in the game to pull out the two-point victory.
Coming off of a dramatic victory over Keene St., the Lord Jeffs eagerly anticipated their next game against WPI. After spotting WPI a 28-25 halftime lead, McBride's troops responded with a beautifully played second half which saw Amherst outscore its opponents 45-27 en route to their 70-55 win. Bergman and Farrell posted 28 and 12 points respectively, both career highs. The two set the stage for Russell's 12 points and sophomore forward Marissa McGuire, who had a breakout game with 10 points on the night. "We really needed Caitlin to step it up under the boards and I think she played a great game," said Bergman. "She should do some great things for us. Also, Marissa hit some key shots from the outside. They both played really well."
The game started out badly for the Jeffs, who found themselves staring at a 13-4 deficit early on. Though they managed to rally, they still found themselves behind 28-25 at the break. But the second half saw the advantage change hands as a Russell basket at the 18-minute mark of the second half brought Amherst even with W.P.I. for the first time of the night.
Amherst proceeded to build up their lead over their guests with a three-point bomb from McGuire, which set off the scoring frenzy from the Jeffs. The last minutes of the game were rough, sending Amherst to the charity stripe four times. On the line, Bergman, Putnam and Russell converted four of seven chances to solidify the Amherst win. "On Saturday [vs. WPI] we didn't come out well, but we regrouped at halftime," said Diamond. "I think the important thing is that we got points from a lot of different people this week."
McBride will need his players to be firing on all cylinders tomorrow when Amherst hosts Wellesley, a team that has given the Jeffs some trouble in the past. "Wellesley's beaten us the past three years by a lot more than they should have," said Diamond. "So I think it's a big pride issue for us that we play well against them this year."