Amherst came out looking unstoppable, led by forward/center Katie Latham '06, who scored eight points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the first half. The Jeffs' strong defense held the Bobcats to just 8-for-37 shooting from the field and 1-for-12 from three-point range. Russell's five-for-nine shooting from beyond the arc paced the team to a 31-19 lead at the break.
With five minutes left to play, Bates went on a 12-4 run, and the Jeffs saw their lead slip away. Bates' Lauren DuBois, who downed a total of 13 points for the Bobcats, tied up the game at 57 with a foul line jumper with only 1:22 remaining. Dubois lengthened the Bobcat lead to 61-57 with 36 seconds left on the clock.
In order to gain some time, Amherst sent Bates' Heather Tyler to the foul line, where she hit one of two free throws with 17.7 seconds left in the game. Although the Jeffs had possession of the ball, Bates intercepted the ball on a pass and the Bobcats held onto the lead until the clock ran out. Bates will play top-ranked Bowdoin College next Saturday.
The close loss showed marked improvement from Amherst's 72-46 regular-season loss to Bates.
"I was really proud of the team," said senior quad-captain Caitlin Farrell '04. "We came out and really played our hearts out ... It was good to know we put it all out there."
The loss marked the final game for senior quad-captains LaShauna Barboza, Marissa McGuire, Farrell and Russell. With 1,345 career points, Russell is the school's second-place all-time leading scorer. Farrell also slipped her name into the record books as the Jeffs' second all-time leading shot blocker.
Though the team will truly miss the presence of these four outstanding captains, the future of the Amherst team looks bright. "As a quad-captain, I am excited to see what the girls do in the future. It is a great team and a great program," said Farrell.