AMHERST, Mass. – The second-ranked Amherst College women's basketball team set a NCAA women's basketball record with its 100th-consecutive home win at LeFrak Gymnasium, surpassing the all-time record of 99 held by UConn, as the Jeffs defeated Baruch in Sunday's Tip-Off Tournament championship game by a score of 73-63.

With the win, Amherst (2-0) becomes just the second team in NCAA basketball history, including both men's and women's programs, to win  at least 100-straight home games. The Kentucky men's basketball team holds the all-time record of 129 from 1943-to-1955. The Jeffs streak began Jan. 31, 2009 when they edged Colby, 65-64. They set the Division III record last year as they surpassed the 88-game mark held by Rust, which held strong since 1989. 

The Purple & White were led by the tournament MVP, sophomore guard Ali Doswell. Doswell dropped a career-high 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting and 4-of-8 from downtown. She also went 3-for-4 from the free throw line, grabbed eight rebounds, and dished out two assists in 35 minutes. Joining her in double-figures were Marley Giddins '16 and her sister Meredith Doswell '17 with 16 and 12 points, respectively. Giddins went 7-for-14 and pulled in a game-high nine rebounds, while Meredith Doswell finished 3-for-4 from the field, 6-for-7 from the charity stripe, and added three rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks.

Two players for Baruch (1-2) recorded double-doubles. Iyana Abrams scored 14 points and registered 10 rebounds, and Alicea Ulmer notched 12 points with a game-high 12 boards. Francess Henry scored 13 points and tallied eight rebounds to round out the top performers for the Bearcats.

The first half featured six lead changes and four ties. After a three-pointer from Ali Doswell knotted the game at 11-11 at the 14:33 mark, the Bearcats went on a 7-0 run capped off by a layup from Kristen Podlovits. The seven-point lead was the largest of the game for the visitor's, but it was quickly erased. After Doswell hit another from downtown, a Baruch turnover seconds later resulted in a Hannah Peterson '17 trey as they quickly cut the deficit to one. At the 11:20 mark, Doswell hit her third three-pointer in 3:30 to give Amherst a 22-20 lead.

The Bearcats continued to penetrate the lane and a layup by Abrams put Baruch ahead by two with 8:37 left in the half. However, Jaimie Renner '17 responded shortly after as she took advantage of the isolation and beat her defender to the rim to put the Jeffs up, 26-25. They would not trail the remainder of the half.

With 1:40 remaining until the break, Ali Doswell hit one from deep with the shot clock running down. On the ensuing Baruch possession, Meredith Doswell forced a turnover and was fouled on her fast-break attempt. She went to the line and hit two to give the Jeffs an eight-point lead as they eventually entered halftime with a 38-30 advantage. Ali Doswell scored 16 of her 25 in the first 20 minutes of play.

Baruch stole the ball in the opening seconds of the second half and led to a Henry layup as the away team cut the deficit to six. However, Amherst maintained a lead for much of the second half until the Bearcats made a run with 8:27 remaining in regulation.

Trailing 59-52, Sheridan Taylor hit two free throws to spark a Baruch run. Seconds later, Ulmer hit a layup followed by a three-pointer from Podlovits as the visitors tied the game at 59-59. The momentum, though, quickly shifted in Amherst's favor when Giddins grabbed a defensive rebound and went the length of the court for the fast-break basket. Shortly after, Ali Doswell finished a pretty reverse layup to put the Purple & White up six as they never looked back.

Giddins made a great drive at the 2:59 mark and was fouled on her way up. She hit both free throws. The next time down, Meredith Doswell also hit a pair from the charity stripe as the Jeffs went ahead by 10. They would go on to win by that margin as they held on for the 73-63 win.

As a team, Amherst shot 57.2% (25-53) from the floor, 38.5% (5-13) from downtown, and 78.3% (18-23) from the charity stripe. They held Baruch to 38.8% (26-67) shooting and just 60.0% (9-15) from the free throw line. The Bearcats won the rebounding margin, 39-to-35.

The Jeffs return to action Tuesday, Dec. 2 and will head to Emmanuel for a 7 p.m. non-conference matchup.