This past week, Amherst faced some tough competition and dropped two conference games to Connecticut College and Wesleyan University. Still, the Jeffs managed to demonstrate that they have the potential to finish at the top of the NESCAC and that they have greatly improved since the beginning of the season. One thing the Jeffs still need to work on, however, is playing the entire 40 minutes; they have displayed an unfortunate tendency to dominate their opponents in one half of the game, unable to sustain their strong play throughout the entire contest.
Friday night's match-up against Conn. provided an example of Amherst's potential. The Camels emerged victorious only after a strong second-half comeback. Despite the final score of 64-59, the Jeffs had control of the game for more than half of the contest.
Tri-captains forward Stefanie Reiff '08 and guard Jenny Muller '07, along with sophomore forward Kerry O'Loughlin, made up the core of the offense. Each scored in double-digits and combined to score 39 points, more than half of the Jeffs' final total. Unfortunately, the Camels had an answer to the Jeffs' offense in the second half. Amherst took a seven-point lead into halftime, but the Camels burst out of the locker room with the same determination and focus that the Jeffs demonstrated in the first half.
Conn. came out on fire, outscoring Amherst by 12 points in the second half. The Jeffs hit 40 percent of their total field goal attempts and 33 percent of their three-pointers in the first 20 minutes; in the second half, the Jeffs' field goal percentage fell to 34.4 and they found no success outside the arc. Meanwhile, the Camels improved their offense in the second half, converting 48 percent of their total field goal attempts and draining almost 43 percent of their three-point attempts.
Amherst dominated the boards, as five Jeffs collected more than five rebounds, many of them at crucial junctures in the game. First-year powerhouse forward Samantha Swensen grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, while O'Loughlin and Reiff added seven and eight, respectively. Junior guard Anne-Claire Roesch recorded an impressive nine rebounds, and sophomore forward Yasmine Harik grabbed six of her own.
The next day, however, the tables were turned against Wesleyan. This time, the Jeffs managed the exciting second-half comeback. In the end, the rally wasn't enough to push the Jeffs to victory, but the game provided another example of how the Jeffs can compete with every team in the NESCAC.
Despite a 17-point deficit with a little more than nine minutes of play remaining, the Jeffs were able to cut the gap to a mere three points with 20 seconds left to play. The Cardinals' 48-43 win evened the season series; the Jeffs had beaten them earlier in the season in a non-conference contest. A major contributor to Wesleyan's success this time around was Amherst's 28 turnovers and the Jeffs' inability to convert on free-throw attempts. The Jeffs' miserable 50 percent completion percentage was was especially damaging, given how close the final margin was.
Amherst saw some standout performances against the Cardinals. Harik showed her versatility, totaling eight points, five rebounds and four steals. Reiff recorded a game-high 15 points, while O'Loughlin and Roesch each added seven rebounds. Swensen, who is a constant threat in the post, grabbed nine rebounds and Muller chipped in seven points of her own.
The Jeffs have a full week of practice lined up, which will culminate in their final game of the regular season, against Trinity College on Saturday. Amherst will enter that match-up with a 12-11 record (3-5 NESCAC). The contest respresents one last chance for the Jeffs to brush up their game-time play before the NESCAC Tournament. According to Roesch, defense will be the focus of the team's practices this week.
The Jeffs are ambitious and optimistic about the looming tournament. "Losing to Conn. and Wesleyan was definitely not something we anticipated," Roesch explained, "but at this point in the season anything is possible and no game is guaranteed to anyone. With that in mind, no matter what our seed is in the tournament, if we can regroup and come together as a team this week, we have the potential to make it to the second weekend of the NESCAC Tournament."
NESCAC Notes
Trinity will travel to Amherst with an 11-10 record after losing its conference game against Wesleyan and defeating Conn.