LEWISTON, Maine — No. 8 Amherst steadily built its lead over the course of four quarters Saturday afternoon, defeating the Bates women's lacrosse team 12-4 in NESCAC action at Garcelon Field.

The Bobcats grabbed the early advantage just 33 seconds into the game when Sarah Stavrovich finished a pass from Lucy Taylor for the opening goal. Amherst responded quickly, tying the contest at the 14:00 mark before adding two more goals later in the quarter to take a 3-1 lead after the opening frame. 

The Mammoths (4-0, 3-0 NESCAC) extended their cushion in the second quarter with three more tallies to carry a 6-1 lead into halftime.

Amherst pushed the margin to 7-1 early in the third quarter before Stavrovich struck again for Bates, converting another setup from Taylor to cut the deficit to five.

The Mammoths answered with a pair of goals later in the period, taking a 9-2 advantage into the fourth quarter.

Bates made a brief push early in the final frame with two man-up goals. Grace Yonchak finished a feed from Clare McGeever at the 14:28 mark, and Laci Raveis followed with a free-position strike just over four minutes (10:06) later to bring the Bobcats within 9-4.

Amherst quickly halted the rally, scoring three times over the final 5:54 to secure the 12-4 victory.

Emily Petersen (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) paced Amherst with three goals, while Caroline Curtis (Winchester, Mass.) and Sofia Guttmann (Weston, Fla.) each scored twice. Kate Becker (Princeton, N.J.) added four assists for the Mammoths.

Despite the loss, Bates outshot Amherst 26-18, but Mammoths goalkeeper Lily Samoska (Hingham, Mass.) made 10 saves to help Amherst remain unbeaten. 

The Bobcats (2-4, 0-3 NESCAC) gets right back at it Sunday with a home non-conference tilt vs. UMass-Dartmouth. Opening draw is set for noon.