AMHERST, Mass. – The Amherst College women's basketball team continued its perfect start to the season and took control of the race for the Little Three championship with a 71-68 win over archrival Williams College, holding off a late charge by the Ephs in the NESCAC opener for both teams on Friday night at LeFrak Gymnasium.

Two of the top players in the NESCAC dueled all night as Amherst junior Kori Barach finished with 29 points and 12 rebounds while Williams star Arianna Gerig netted 33 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.

The Mammoths, ranked 10th in the nation in the latest D3hoops.com poll, improved to 11-0, the team's best start since its undefeated 2017-18 season, and have won the first two of four Little Three games this season. The Ephs evened their record at 7-7.

The Mammoths return to action at LeFrak Gymnasium tomorrow (Saturday, Jan. 6), hosting Middlebury at 3 p.m. for another NESCAC clash.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* The Mammoths took a big early lead thanks to a 13-0 run in the first quarter that Barach kicked off with a 3-pointer midway through the opening frame. When she sunk a pair of free throws with 1:03 to play, the Mammoths had a 19-5 lead on their archrivals.

* Back-to-back baskets from Barach in the second quarter pushed Amherst's lead to 36-18 midway through the second quarter. The Ephs responded with a 7-0 run down the stretch before halftime before Barach hit a three in the final seconds to send the Mammoths to the locker room with a 41-27 halftime lead.

* The third quarter was tightly played as the teams traded 5-0 runs with Williams ending with a 15-14 edge in the quarter once sophomore Sarah Batra ended the period with a long jumper from the corner.

* While the Mammoths looked to be in control for much of the night, the Ephs mounted a furious fourth-quarter rally to get back within one. A 7-0 Williams run midway through the final frame turned a 10-point Amherst lead into a one-possession game when Logan Coster went to the basket with three-and-a-half minutes to play.

* The Mammoths maintained a lead between three and six points until Gerig drained a three with 17 seconds left to pull the Ephs back within one. Williams quickly fouled and Barach hit both free throws to put Amherst up by three with 14.5 seconds to play.

* On the final Williams possession, Amherst's perimeter defense was unflappable, forcing the Ephs into a contested desperation heave in the final seconds that bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded.



BY THE NUMBERS:

* In addition to Barach's season-high 29 points, sophomore Anna Tranum scored in double figures with 14 points. Barach and Tranum each recorded three steals.

* Most of the statistics were as tight as the final score. Each side took 63 field-goal attempts with Williams making 25 (39.7 percent) and Amherst sinking 24 (38.1 percent). The Ephs shot 4-of-12 from beyond the arc, while the Mammoths were 2-of-12, but Amherst was able to get to the free-throw line more often, shooting 21-of-26 (80.8 percent) from the line while Williams was 14-of-16.

* The Mammoths held a 43-39 edge in rebounding and committed one fewer turnover than the Ephs, 15-14.