The women's basketball team ended a six-game losing streak with a win against Tufts University on Friday night. However, Amherst's winning ways did not last for long, as they fell the following day to Bates College, 73-57, to bring their record to 10-8. The loss was only a minor setback in comparison to the injury of tri-captain point guard Sara Bozorg '03, who left the game late in the first half with an ankle injury and did not return. Head coach Billy McBride expects Bozorg to be out for at least three weeks and miss the rest of the regular season. The Jeffs will be hard-pressed to replace Bozorg as both a ball-handler and a strong defensive presence.

The injury had a profound effect on the outcome of the Bates game, causing the Jeffs to collapse in the second half. The beginning of the game was relatively even, and midway through the first half, Amherst began to take control. With just under six minutes to play in the half, Bozorg made a short jumper and gave Amherst their largest lead of the game at 27-18. This lead however, was short-lived, as the Bobcats went on a 18-2 run to open the second half. Due to a combination of Bozorg's injury and the Bobcats' league-leading defense, the Jeffs could not recover and lost by 15 points.

In contrast to the Bates match-up, Friday's game versus Tufts saw Amherst establish a first-half lead and never relinquish it. Tufts came into the match with a 13-2 record, but Amherst prevailed, snapping their losing streak. The Jeff defense was particularly tough at the beginning of the game, shutting out Tufts for the first seven minutes. The Jeffs took a commanding 39-20 lead into halftime and never allowed the Jumbos to close the gap. Shannon Russell '04, the team's leading scorer, contributed 17 points, and center Caitlin Farrell '04 added 14 points and 11 rebounds. The Jeffs dominated the Jumbos, 63-40, in front of a large home crowd.

Amherst will try to pull together when they play Clark and Trinity Colleges, tomorrow and Feb. 8, respectively. The team believes that they can overcome Bozorg's injury and be successful. "If we can put two good halves together we'll handle them fine," said Russell. "We can't just show up and expect to win; obviously that hasn't been working."