Sophomore Ariana Dalia (Brick, N.J.) scored a team-high 16 points on 5-9 shooting to pace the Bobcats (9-6, 1-1 NESCAC) and sophomore Meghan Graff (South Portland, Maine) added 10 points of her own. Senior captain Melanie Binkhorst (West Hartford, Conn.) grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. And junior Taylor McVeigh (Hanson, Mass.) continued her strong season with six rebounds, a game-high three assists and four steals. Junior captain Julia Middlebrook (Ridgefield, Conn.) also tallied four steals and the Bobcats recorded 14 steals as a team to Amherst's seven.

Amherst's Madeline Eck led all scorers with 19 points on 6-12 shooting. She tied for a game-high with eight rebounds and tallied three steals. No other Mammoth finished in double figures, with Courtney Resch tallying eight points and eight rebounds. She also blocked a game-high four shots.

The Bobcats led by as many as five points in the first quarter, with Graff putting them up 8-3 on a layup with 6:13 left. The Mammoths (15-1, 3-0 NESCAC) answered with a 6-0 run before Graff converted a three-point play with 2:16 remaining, putting Bates up 11-9. Dalia followed with a jumper and the Bobcats led by four. Dani Valdez's layup with 48 seconds left trimmed the Bates lead to 13-11 through one quarter.

Eck's layup with 5:33 left in the second quarter put Amherst ahead for good at 17-15. But the Mammoths only led 22-20 at halftime as Bates refused to go away.

Out of the break, Amherst scored the first nine points of the second half before sophomore Mia Roy (Bedford, N.H.) hit a three with 1:47 left in the third quarter, making the score 31-23 in favor of the Mammoths.

Bates managed just five points in the third quarter and trailed 35-25 headed to the fourth. 

The Bobcats turned the tables in the fourth quarter, cutting the Amherst advantage to 37-34 on a Dalia free throw with 3:25 to go in the game. Another Dalia free throw made the score 39-35 with 1:29 left. Eck had the answer with a layup before Dalia responded with a layup of her own, making the score 41-37 with 40 seconds left. The Bobcats forced a turnover but missed a pair of shots that could have made it a one-possession game. 

Then Eck made two free throws to seal the six-point win for Amherst.

Bates held Amherst to 37.2% shooting on the night but the Bobcats only shot 25.9% from the floor themselves. Both teams struggled from deep, with the Mammoths making just 2-11 three-pointers and Bates making 1-10. 

The Bobcats travel to Clinton, N.Y. to take on the Hamilton Continentals Saturday at 3pm.