Box Score AMHERST – Senior Erica DeCandido made a layup with 1:04 remaining in overtime and it held to give the No. 1 Tufts women's basketball team at 48-46 win over No. 4 Amherst on the road on Saturday afternoon.
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| Sofia Rosa turned in a career-high 18 points to help the win |
The Jumbos (16-0, 3-0) outscored the Mammoths (15-2, 3-1) in three of the four regulation periods, and in the overtime as they worked to tie things in the third quarter after trailing for a good part of the game. The Jumbos were down by eight with 4:03 to go in the third and worked to cut that lead to four by the end of the third and tied things just about two minutes into the fourth quarter.
Trailing by eight with 4:03 in the third, sophomore Sofia Rosa cut the lead to six with a layup. After one free throw from Amherst's Madeline Eck, the Jumbos got a couple free throws from DeCandido to cut the lead to five. With 1:55 to go in the quarter Rosa cut the lead to three with a layup, but Amherst got a free throw from Dani Valdez to increase their lead to four. The Mammoths were ahead 35-31 after three quarters of play.
Rosa opened up scoring in the fourth with a layup about two minutes into the quarter. She then tied things at 35 with a layup with 7:41 to go. The Mammoths answered with a couple points from Valdez, but Rosa once again tied things at 37 for the Jumbos. DeCandido made one of two at the line to give the Jumbos a one-point advantage, 38-37, with 5:12 remaining in the game.
Amherst's Hannah Fox put the home team on top again with a three with 3:38 to go, but the Jumbos once again tied things at 40 with a layup from senior Cailin Harrington with 1:30 left in the game. Cam Hendricks missed a three with 32 seconds left on the clock, and on the Jumbos end of the court DeCandido missed a jumper and regulation ended with the game tied at 40.
The two teams traded baskets and things were tied three times in the first three minutes of overtime. Eck tied things at 46 with a layup with 2:11 to go, but the Jumbos took a two-point lead thanks to a layup from DeCandido with 1:04 to go. On the other end of the court Eck missed two free throws that could have tied things. The Jumbos weren't able to add anything on their end of the court, and Fox's three attempt with three seconds left didn't go. The Jumbos picked up the 48-46 overtime win.
The Mammoths opened up scoring in the first quarter with a jumper from Eck and a layup from Maggie Shipley. Down by four with 6:45 left in the first quarter DeCandido made one of two from the free throw line and then Harrington tied things at six with a three with 5:26 left in the quarter. Amherst answered with an Eck jumper, and then a three from Hendricks. After a jumper from Rosa for the Jumbos, the Mammoths got another layup from Eck. On the other end of the court Rosa made two free throws to cut the lead to three, 13-10, with 1:54 left in the quarter. But, Hannah Fox drained a three with three seconds left on the clock to give the Mammoths the 16-10 advantage after the first quarter.
Both teams traded points early in the second quarter and then things were quiet for a while. Dani Valdez made a jumper for the Mammoths with 8:54 on the clock. Neither team scored again until DeCandido cut the lead to four with a layup with 4:49 left. The two teams traded baskets for the remainder of the second quarter. A jumper from Eck pushed the Mammoth lead to seven, 24-17, with 33 seconds left. But, DeCandido made two free throws to cut that lead to five. Amherst was ahead at the half, 24-19.
Rosa finished with a career-high 18 points along with six rebounds off the bench for the Jumbos. DeCandido also added 18 points, seven rebounds and a couple of assists and steals. Harrington added five points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Molly Ryan tallied a couple of points along with five rebound and three assists.
Eck led the Mammoth scorers with 16 points, along with five rebounds and five steals. Fox tallied ten points and five boards. Valdez turned in five points off the bench. Hendricks added five points, four rebounds and a couple of assists.
The Jumbos are back in action on Wednesday when they host Babson for a 7 pm start. Amherst plays again on Wednesday as well, as they host Williams with a 7 pm tip-off.
