Box Score 
MEDFORD – The Tufts University women's basketball team fell short to the visiting Amherst College Mammoths 62-53 in Saturday afternoon's NESCAC matchup at Cousens Gymnasium.
Tufts graduate student Angela Alibrandi (pictured) shined, scoring 16 points with 11 rebounds and senior Molly Ryan finished with 11 points three assists. Amherst senior Gabrielle Zaffiro had a great day for the Mammoths scoring 23 points along with 10 rebounds and three assists. Zaffiro was 2 for 2 from beyond the arc and 7 for 13 from the field.
The first quarter was extremely tight as both teams traded baskets and did not allow each other to take a demanding lead. Amherst came out of the gates strong with two straight layups from Reeya Patel and Dani Valdez, but Tufts would fight back with a jumper and free throw by Alibrandi as the teams would go back-and-forth. Tufts went on a 7-0 run to take a two-point lead with three minutes remaining in the quarter, but Amherst finished off the quarter with two consecutive layups to go into the second quarter with the 12-10 lead.
The Jumbos came alive in the second quarter, scoring 21 points compared to Amherst's 10. They started the quarter with five unanswered points before Amherst's Abby Skinner broke up the run with a layup. With just a two-point lead with four minutes left in the half, the Jumbos caught fire and went on a 9-2 run to end the quarter which included a three-pointer from Erin Poindexter-McHan. The game went to half with the score at 31-22 in favor of the Jumbos.
The third quarter was evenly played, as both teams played stout defense and kept each other from going on any runs. The teams continued to go back-and-forth trading baskets and after the quarter, the Jumbos' lead remained the same after both teams would score 13 points in the third. Alibrandi scored 7 of the teams 13 points in the quarter with Valdez scoring five for Amherst, helping send the game to the fourth quarter with a 44-35 Tufts lead.
Amherst found their groove in the fourth quarter, going on a 15-6 run in the first half of the quarter to tie the game at 50 with 4:48 left in the game. Zaffiro and Valdez took over the scoring for the Mammoths for the rest of the quarter as Zaffiro sunk a three-pointer to break the tie and give Amherst the three-point lead. Ryan responded with two free throws for Tufts, but Valdez countered that with two of her own and a Zaffiro jump shot. To finish out the game, Zaffiro hit five free throws in the final minute of the game to extend the Mammoths' lead and close out the game with a score of 62-53 in favor of Amherst.
The loss brings the Jumbos' record to 11-2 with a 2-1 NESCAC record while Amherst is now 9-1 overall with a 2-1 record in the conference.
Next, Tufts will host New Jersey City University on Monday, January 17, 2022 at 6 pm at Cousens Gymnasium.
Written by Tim O'Brien, Athletic Communications Intern
