WATERVILLE, Maine --- The winning streak for the Amherst College women's basketball team is at 36 games --- barely.
 
The top-ranked and defending national champion Lord Jeffs (17-0 overall, 5-0 NESCAC) rallied from a seven-point deficit with 4:34 to play to pull out a thrilling 51-50 win over Colby College in New England Small College Athletic Conference play Saturday at Wadsworth Gymnasium.
 
Amherst has won 36 straight games and has earned 28 conference wins in a row. The Lord Jeffs had to battle hard in Maine, winning two games by a total of five points. Amherst won by four points over Bowdoin College on Friday night and then had to scrap past the Mules.
 
The Mules led 48-41 after Jayde Bennett (Lynn, Mass.) nailed a jumper with 4:34 to play. Amherst, though, went on an 8-0 run to take a 49-48 lead on a Marcia Voigt (Skillman, N.J.) bucket with 1:07 to play. Colby (12-3 overall, 3-2 NESCAC) went ahead again when Rachael Mack (Augusta, Maine) scored inside with 42 seconds left on a drive to the basket. Stedman drove from the right side of the basket into the middle of the lane and scored with 18.5 seconds to play. Colby tried to go to Mack, but she was forced to get the ball back out to Diana Manduca (Portland, Maine) as time was winding down. Manduca tried to throw up a desperation 3-point shot in traffic, but the ball was batted away.
 
Megan Robertson (Tewksbury, Mass.) finished with a game-high 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting and had seven rebounds for the Lord Jeffs. Stedman finished with 14 points and a team-high four assists. Kim Fiorentino (Holmdel, N.J.) added 13 points, while Bridget Crowley (Hampden, Mass.) had nine rebounds.
 
Mack had 14 points, while Jil Vaughan (Wareham, Mass.) had 10 points and four blocked shots. Bennett had seven points and five rebounds for the Mules. Aarika Ritchie (Lee, Maine) had seven points and eight assists to go over 300 assists for her career. She has 307 assists in her four years.
 
AMHERST 51, COLBY 50
AMHERST (17-0, 5-0 NESCAC)
Megan Robertson 7-11 4-4 18; Caroline Stedman 5-11 4-6 14; Kim Fiorentino
5-12 3-4 13; Jasmine Hardy 1-2 0-0 3; Marcia Voigt 1-5 0-0 2; Bridget
Crowley 0-3 1-2 1; Shannon Finucane 0-4 0-0 0; Jackie Renner 0-4 0-0 0.
Totals 19-52 12-16 51.
COLBY (12-3, 3-2 NESCAC)
Rachael Mack 5-12 2-2 14; Jil Vaughan 5-10 0-0 10; Aarika Ritchie 2-8 2-2 7;
Jayde Bennett 3-6 1-2 7; Diana Manduca 3-7 0-0 6; Kelly Potvin 3-3 0-0 6;
Jacky McLaughlin 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 21-49 5-6 50.
Amherst.......................   25   26  -   51
Colby.........................   28   22  -   50
3-point goals-Amherst 1-7 (Jasmine Hardy 1-1; Caroline Stedman 0-2; Kim
Fiorentino 0-2; Shannon Finucane 0-2), Colby 3-16 (Rachael Mack 2-4; Aarika
Ritchie 1-3; Jayde Bennett 0-2; Diana Manduca 0-4; Jacky McLaughlin 0-3).
Fouled out--Amherst-None, Colby-None. Rebounds-Amherst 31 (Bridget Crowley
9), Colby 32 (Rachael Mack 5; Jayde Bennett 5). Assists-Amherst 8 (Caroline
Stedman 4), Colby 17 (Aarika Ritchie 8). Total fouls-Amherst 8, Colby 11.
A-600