For the Gazette
AMHERST — The win streak now sits at 54 for the Amherst College women’s basketball team, as the Mammoths took down Tufts, 50-43, Friday at LeFrak Gymnasium.
Sophomore Madeline Eck had 20 points and made a few key plays late to help No. 1 Amherst (21-0, 7-0 NESCAC) hold off the Jumbos down the stretch.
“We gutted it out,” Amherst coach G.P. Gromacki said. “We know how to finish, and that’s what we’ve been doing lately (and) really all season long. When you’re playing a team like Tufts, you’re not always going to look that good, so you have to give them a lot of credit. We can play better, but we handled the situation when we needed to.”
The Mammoths went on a 16-3 run in the second quarter to turn a six-point lead into a 32-13 lead with 2 minutes 33 seconds left.
“I’m really proud of the way our team played, especially in the first half,” Eck said. “I think we came out firing, especially on defense. That’s kind of our hallmark and we did a really great job.”
Eck finished the first half with 14 points. A good chunk of that 16-3 run came by way of Eck’s dribble drives, finishing at the rim with either hand or kicking out to open teammates.
“It’s huge,” Gromacki said of Eck’s penetration. “It opens up a lot of things for us. She’s a great player, only a sophomore, and she’s really stepped up this year.”
No. 7 Tufts (19-3, 6-2) had no interest in rolling over, piecing together a 16-2 run over the second and third quarters that cut the deficit to 34-29.
A back-and-forth final quarter saw the Jumbos get as close as 46-43 when Melissa Baptista (18 points, 13 rebounds) drilled a 3-pointer and converted a layup on back-to-back possessions with 1:40 remaining.
But Amherst made plays. After a pair of defensive stops, senior Hannah Hackley found junior Emma McCarthy cutting to the basket on the break. McCarthy laid it in and was fouled with 41 seconds left. She missed the free throw but Amherst held the Jumbos scoreless the rest of the way.
“It was play after play,” Gromacki said. “A defensive stop, a rebound here and there, two fouls shots, obviously at the end of a game a huge layup, it wasn’t one person. That was great to see.”
The Mammoths host Bates at 3 p.m. Saturday in their final regular season home game.
