Mass-Dartmouth never had a chance in the national quarterfinals, not after Amherst limited the Corsairs to 1-for-11 shooting and picked up eight steals in the first period alone. Amherst went on to win 73-33. Clarus Studios photo for Amherst athletics

By Adam Turer
D3sports.com

It’s the time of year for simple (stupid) questions and simple (smart) answers. How do you win in March? By scoring more points than you allow.

No team has unlocked this basic key to victory quite like Amherst this season. The Purple & White play suffocating defense, leading the nation by allowing just 40 points per game. They held UMass Dartmouth to 33 points in a 40-point sectional final victory. That was the 18th time this season, including three times in four NCAA Tournament games, that Amherst (31-0) held its opponent to 40 points or below.

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So, the key to success is simple: if your opponent can’t score, it can’t win. But the preparation and effort that goes into playing such stifling defense? That’s something that has to be taught, and few teach it better than G.P. Gromacki.

Since Jan. 1, Amherst has allowed opponents just 38.1 points per outing and has outscored opponents by more than 30 points per game. Clarus Studios photo for Amherst athletics

Playing great defense alone is usually not enough for a high school student-athlete to garner the attention of college coaches. Most high school hoopsters are used to being a focal point on offense and playing enough defense to avoid having any weaknesses exposed. The task of many great college coaches is to get those offensive-minded players to buy into the concept of playing great team defense.

“I wish you could notice that a little bit more,” said Gromacki of looking for great defensive players on the recruiting trail. “We just try to make it the right fit, the right type of student-athlete who will fit in here at Amherst.”

Those first few days of practice can be an eye-opening experience, or a rude awakening, for a freshman. Amherst seniors Ali Doswell and her twin sister Meredith remember those days vividly.

“The first week or so of practice is very defensive-focused and oriented. It was kind of a shock to me, because I was not the best defender in high school and was a little slower,” said Ali. “Getting it ingrained that I actually needed to stop people one-on-one was a bit of a challenge at first. Once you get down the fundamentals, it kind of becomes natural. It’s definitely not an easy process.”

Gromacki and his staff break down the details of playing superb team defense. Those include getting hands in passing lanes, always being ready to help, constant talking, ball pressure, keeping your hands up, and extending above the arc on 3-point shooters.

“It was definitely a switch from high school to college. In high school, there isn’t as much emphasis on defense, unless there’s one player we really need to pay attention to on the other team. In college, and especially at Amherst, Coach pays extreme attention to detail,” said Meredith. “That is what drives our play. It was an adjustment freshman year for sure. You were expected to anticipate to get stops, to not make excuses on the defensive end. It was very challenging, but he ingrains that in every player from Day One. That has made our defense pretty resilient. We work every day to get better on the defensive end. It’s very competitive in practice.”

The team averages over 11 steals and six blocks per game. The Purple & White outrebound their opponents by 12 boards per game. Mary Washington scored 51 points against Amherst in the second round of the tournament. That is the first time in 2017 that the Purple & White have allowed a team to crack the half-a-century mark. Only three teams broke that barrier against Amherst in the first six weeks of the season.

“We make [defense] a priority. Our team knows how much it means to us,” said Gromacki. “That’s where they put a lot of their focus.”

In just about every game during this 31-game winning streak, the Purple & White have had those moments that every great defensive team relishes. That moment when an opposing point guard turns the ball over under pressure; when an opposing coach angrily calls timeout; when the Amherst players are smiling while their opponents are bickering with one another.

“It energizes us a lot. It’s definitely a satisfaction to see frustration from our opponents. When we see frustration from them, we can tell that we’re doing our job right,” said Meredith. “We can tell when teams are frustrated and we do tend to capitalize on the offensive end from other teams’ frustration.”

There are 14 players on the Amherst roster. No player averages more than 25 minutes per game, or fewer than seven minutes per game. The leading scorer, and only player to average double figures, is Ali Doswell at 12.9 points per game. With the talent, experience, and balance on offense, the Purple & White do not spend much time stressing about getting their own buckets. The focus remains on shutting down the opponent.

“It’s always a work in progress. Coach ingrains it in us from the very first week and days of practice,” said Ali of the defensive details. “Now, I don’t even think about a lot of the things he’s said; it’s a natural tendency. That’s a natural evolution of the defense.”

Amherst handed NESCAC rival Tufts its only two losses of the season, a 36-35 road win in the regular season and a 41-37 victory in the conference tournament championship game. Round three could happen on Saturday in Grand Rapids, but Amherst knows better than to look ahead. They trailed 2016 champion Thomas More by just three points entering the fourth quarter of last year’s national semifinal, before falling by nine. The sting of that defeat stuck with them through the offseason, and to this day.

“Last year, coming so close to the eventual champion and with the key core of returning players coming back, as soon as that game ended, we already started thinking about how we could get back [this] year and win the whole thing,” said Gromacki.

Entering the tournament as the top-ranked team in the nation did not change the expectations or the motivation for this team. The Purple & White will stick with what got them here: unselfishness, and focused team defense.

“We might feel a little bit more pressure than last year just because we are the overall favorite right now,” said Ali. “But when we look at the games and who we’re facing, it’s really no different. The coaches have done a good job of keeping us calm and making sure that we’re focused on just playing a basketball game and getting another win.”

If they take care of business against Christopher Newport on Friday night, the Purple & White will wake up on Saturday with the same mindset: play their brand of basketball, and get one more win.

The only difference? That second win comes with confetti.