Though the Jeffs were still feeling the after-effects of their loss to rival Williams College, they put the setback behind them and surged back into the winners’ circle last Tuesday night, defeating Western New England College at home, 64-42. The team then made the long trek up to Maine to face NESCAC foes Colby and Bowdoin Colleges. Though they showed great energy against Colby, winning 71-44, they suffered their second loss of the season to the Polar Bears the following day, putting a damper on the success of the week.
Amherst began its Tuesday night game with a hunger to get back on the winning track, and it showed: the team jumped out to an early 12-6 lead. WNEC sporadically responded with runs of its own, however, the Jeffs held a solid 36-21 lead at the half. Though WNEC showed some impressive shooting skills early in the second half, even cutting the lead to eight at one point, the Jeffs kept their composure and broke down their opponents to notch a 22-point victory.
Captain and guard Shaina Pollack ’08 led Amherst with 13 points, six assists and two steals on the night. She was helped on offense by rookies Sarah Leyman ’11 and Jaclyn Daigneault ’11, who had 12 and nine points, respectively, while junior forward Yasmine Harik exhibited excellent defense, shutting down WNEC’s star player.
The Jeffs came out a little sluggish after a long drive up to Waterville, Minn., and Colby led early in the game, 10-5. Amherst soon recovered, however, and led by 17 points at the break. The Mules never got closer than 14 in the second half, and the Jeffs came away with a huge conference win. Once again, Pollack led Amherst in the points column with 18, and fellow classmate and captain Stefanie Reiff tallied 16 on the night. Reiff added six assists and Harik grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
Unfortunately, Amherst would not pull off the Maine sweep, as they fell by 11 points to Bowdoin. The Jeffs started off with an energy and intensity that gave them a 10-point edge with about 7:30 left in the first stanza. But the Polar Bears roared back and the two teams entered halftime tied at 31. The league rivals looked to be evenly matched throughout the second half, and the lead traded hands numerous times. Finally, though, the home team pulled away thanks to a 9-0 run, and Amherst suffered only its second defeat of the season.
Pollack, coming off a good scoring game, successfully directed the offense against Bowdoin, totaling nine assists. Reiff added 15 points to her weekend total, bringing it to 31 for the two games. The seniors hardly dominated the weekend, though; without strong play and fast learning from the underclassmen, the Jeffs likely would not be challenging for the top spot in the conference heading into the final few weeks.
MEET THE FIRST-YEAR
Name: Jaclyn Daigneault
Year: 2011
Hometown: Guilford, Conn.
Position: Guard/Forward
Stats: 5.4 points per game, 2.7 rebounds per game, 17 steals on the season
Q: Did you always know that you wanted to play college ball?
A: As a little kid I always wanted to play in college. I knew that even if I didn’t go Div. I, I could play at some other college and still fulfill my dream.
Q: Did you play other sports?
A: I played volleyball all throughout high school. I had to choose between basketball and volleyball when coming into college because I really wanted to focus on one sport and have the other seasons off so I could focus on my school work. I have been playing basketball all my life, its my favorite sport, and I couldn’t see myself not playing. Basketball was the obvious choice.
Q: What is your favorite basketball memory?
A: Scoring my 1,000th point in high school against our rivals.
Q: Why Amherst?
A: After I saw Amherst and met the team, I knew I wanted to come here. I had to get my SATs scores up in order to get in, so just in case I didn’t, I had to look at other schools. I was looking at Trinity, but when I knew I could get in here, that was it. Amherst is an amazing school, it has great resources, its in a great location, and it is close to home, which is important because my parents want to come to my games.
Q: What is the best part about the Amherst team?
A: The girls are awesome. Everyone gets along so well and because of that we have great team chemistry on the court.