HARTFORD, Conn. -- Junior captain Meghan Graff scored a game-high 20 points and the Bates women's basketball team held off a furious fourth quarter rally by No. 8 nationally ranked Amherst to win the program's first NESCAC championship with a 51-42 victory over the Mammoths Sunday afternoon.

With the win, Bates (17-7) secures an automatic bid to the 2022 NCAA Championships. It's the first time Bates women's basketball has qualified for the NCAA tournament since the 2005-06 season and it's the seventh time in program history the team has qualified for NCAAs. The Bobcats will find out their first opponent on Monday at 2:30pm when the Selection Show airs on the NCAA's website. The tournament begins next Friday, March 4. 

"Our program has grown exponentially because of the women who every year committed to building a culture and believing in our vision," head coach Alison Montgomery said. "We are thrilled to continue our season and to keep making a run!"

The Bobcats played fierce defense and shut down the Mammoths (21-3) for the majority of the game. Bates held Amherst to six points in the first quarter, six points in the second quarter, and eight points in the third quarter.

Bates dominated the glass yet again on Sunday, out-rebounding Amherst 53-36. Junior Brianna Gadaleta (Chappaqua, N.Y.) pulled down a career and game-high 16 rebounds, while senior Ariana Dalia (Brick, N.J.) recorded 12 boards. Both Gadaleta and Dalia just missed double-doubles with eight points apiece. Bates tallied 11 second chance points to Amherst's four. The Bobcats also scored in transition well, with 12 fast break points to Amherst's three.

Graff (South Portland, Maine) dished out a team-high five assists to accompany her second straight 20-point outing. Senior Mia Roy (Bedford, N.H.) added 12 points and made two of five three-pointers on the afternoon. 

Up 40-20 through three quarters, the Bobcats seemed on their way to a relatively easy victory. But Amherst mounted a fierce comeback, scoring 22 points in the fourth quarter and holding Bates without a field goal for the final 10 minutes of action. Back-to-back-to-back threes from Courtney Resch, Lauren Pelosi, and AnLing Vera cut a 45-31 lead for the Bobcats to 45-40 with 43 seconds remaining. 

The Bobcats make their free throws though, sinking 11 of 14 in the fourth quarter to hold on for the victory. Graff split a pair with 41 seconds left and Resch missed a three on the other end. Graff got fouled and sank a pair of free throws to put the Bobcats up by eight with 28 seconds left. Jade Duval hit a jumper on the other end but Graff made three more free throws in the remaining seconds to secure the nine-point win. 

There were no ties or lead changes in the contest.

Dalia opened the game with a three-pointer and Graff and Roy followed with layups, putting Bates up 7-0 with 5:24 left in the first quarter. The Bobcats led 11-6 through one and Amherst cut the Bates lead to three early in the second quarter on a Gabrielle Zaffiro layup. 

But then Roy went on a personal 5-0 run, making two free throws and drilling a three-point shot to put Bates up 16-8 with 6:05 left in the half.

A Dani Valdez layup made the score 16-12 and Bates answered with another 5-0 run, this one keyed by buckets from Graff and Dalia, giving the Bobcats a 21-12 lead at halftime. 

The second half was a tale of two quarters as the teams ended up scoring 30 points apiece over the final 20 minutes. The Bobcats outscored the Mammoths by 11 (19-8) in the third quarter to go up by 20, their largest lead of the game. Then the Mammoths outscored the Bobcats by 11 in the fourth quarter, making the final margin of victory the same as the halftime edge for Bates.

Bates made 18-22 free throws overall while Amherst made seven of nine. The Mammoths shot 24.6 percent from the field, their worst shooting performance in a game since 2013. Bates shot 27.8% from the floor in the defensive battle, their second lowest percentage of the season. The only game where the Bobcats posted a lower shooting percentage this year was...a win against Amherst on Jan. 14. The Mammoths have lost three games total this year, with two of those losses coming at the hands of the Bobcats.