MEDFORD, Mass. – Trailing by 11 points early in the fourth quarter, the Amherst College women's basketball team mounted a furious comeback and outscored Tufts University, 27-9, in the final quarter to earn a 62-53 win in NESCAC action on Saturday afternoon at Cousens Gym. Senior captains Gabrielle Zaffiro (23 points, 10 rebounds) and Dani Valdez (13 points, 10 rebounds) both tallied double-doubles to lead the Mammoths.

The Mammoths (9-1, 2-1 NESCAC), ranked third in the nation in the latest D3hoops poll and second in the WBCA Division III coaches poll, snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Jumbos (11-2, 2-1 NESCAC), who are ranked ninth in the D3hoops poll and 10th in the WBCA poll.

Amherst is back in action on Wednesday (Jan. 19), visiting archrival Williams at 7 p.m. for a Little Three showdown. The Mammoths will clinch the Little Three title with a win over the Ephs.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

• The Mammoths scored the first two baskets of the game and built an 8-3 lead before the Jumbos came back to take the lead. Zaffiro tied the game at 10-10 with a layup after grabbing an offensive rebounds and Jade DuVal scored to put the Mammoths up, 12-10, at the end of the first.
• The game continued back and forth into the second quarter, but after Reeya Patel hit a jumper to give the Mammoths a 16-15 lead, the Jumbos responded with a 16-4 run and took a 31-22 lead into halftime.
• The two sides traded baskets for most of the third quarter and a buzzer-beating jumper from Molly Ryan put Tufts up by nine once again at the start of the fourth quarter.
• After the Jumbos opened the scoring in the fourth quarter to go up by 11, the Mammoths responded with an 18-4 run, tying the score at 50-50 when AnLing Vera hit a pair of free throws and taking the lead on a Zaffiro three-pointer with 4:09 to go.
• Over two minutes elapsed without a field goal for either side until Ryan hit a jumper to tie the game at 53-53 with 1:46 remaining. The Mammoths went back on top when Valdez dished to Zaffiro for a mid-range jumper with 1:29 to go and the Mammoths hit 7-of-8 free throws without allowing the Jumbos to score in the final 90 seconds.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Tufts was the better shooting team for the first three quarters until those numbers completely flipped in the fourth. The Mammoths shot 30 percent (14-of-47) from the floor for the first three quarters, but shot at a 64 percent clip (7-of-11) in the fourth. Meanwhile, the Jumbos shot 39 percent (16-of-41) through the first three quarters but were held to 19 percent (3-of-16) in the fourth.
• The Mammoths held a 48-33 rebounding advantage in the game and won the battle on the boards at the offensive end with 22 offensive rebounds to Tufts' 20 defensive rebounds, leading to 14 second-chance points for Amherst.
• Vera tallied a game-high seven assists to go with seven points and eight rebounds.
• Angela Alibrandi led the Jumbos with 16 points and 11 rebounds.