The Middlebury women's basketball team saw its season come to an end with a 79-41 loss at 10th-ranked Amherst on Sunday afternoon. The Jeffs improved to 22-2 overall and 9-1 in the league, while Middlebury concludes its season at 7-17 and 1-9 in conference action.
The hosts shot an efficient 51.5 percent from the field (17-33) including a 50.0 percent (5-10) clip from long distance in the first half. Amherst held the Panthers without a field goal for a stretch of 8:27 in the opening period and outscored the visitors 19-6 during that span.
Trailing 4-3 early on, the Jeffs reeled off a 17-3 run over seven-plus minutes and went up by a score of 20-7 on a Jaimie Renner three-pointer. Middlebury's Sarah Marcus momentarily stemmed the tide with a lay-up at 9:28, but the Panthers wouldn't net another field goal until the final minute of the half.
Beginning with an Ali Doswell trey on the Jeffs' next possession, the Purple & White rattled off 19 unanswered over 5:18, building a 30-point margin on a Rachel Boyette bucket. Scarlett Kirk ended the Panther dry spell with four-straight free throws inside of the 2:30 mark before Laura Lowry drove the lane and ended the field goal drought with 1:01 on the clock.
Down 28 at the half, Elizabeth Knox scored the first points of the second for Middlebury on a jumper at 18:28. The Jeffs responded with 17-7 run over the next 6:20, going up 60-24 on a Marley Giddins lay-up. Less than a minute later, Kirk connected down low, but the Jeffs came right back with an 8-1 spurt and built a comfortable 41-point cushion on a pair of Boyette free throws at 9:07.
Doswell led all scorers with 20 points on 7-12 shooting. Doswell was 4-8 in three-pointers and added seven rebounds and four assists. Giddins and Haley Zwecker each finished with 11 points, with the duo combining for 10 rebounds.
Converting 30 of its 58 attempts from the floor (51.7 percent), the Jeffs held Middlebury to just 14-48 shooting (29.2 percent), including a 2-9 (22.2 percent) showing from behind the arc. Kirk paced the Panthers with 12 points and seven boards, while Lowry was the only other Middlebury player to score in double digits with 10. Knox added seven points and four boards, while Rachel Crews chipped in with six points and four rebounds.
For the game, Amherst held a 41-31 rebounding edge and 40-20 advantage in points in the paint.