Hamilton College's Kelcie Zarle '22 put the Continentals in the lead for good on a 3-pointer from near the top of the arc with 38.1 seconds left and they edged the Amherst College Mammoths 56-55 for a NESCAC win at Hamilton's Margaret Bundy Scott Field House on Saturday afternoon.

The Continentals (12-6, 2-3 NESCAC) defeated Amherst for the third time in 16 all-time meetings and the first since Hamilton joined the NESCAC for basketball prior to the 2011-12 academic year. The Continentals' last victory against the Mammoths was during the 2006-07 season when G.P. Gromacki, who currently coaches Amherst, was Hamilton's head coach.

The Continentals held a 37-33 advantage on the glass, and led for more than 23 minutes. Hamilton goes on the road for a non-conference game at Ithaca College on Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m.

The Mammoths (16-3, 3-2) are ranked fifth in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Division III and D3hoops.com Top 25 polls. Amherst had a 38-22 advantage in points in the paint and outscored the Continentals 13-5 on second-chance points, but the Mammoths shot 35 percent from the floor including just 2 of 15 from beyond the arc.

Zarle led Hamilton with 12 points and Carly O'Hern '20 chipped in 10. Zarle is tied for third in the conference in 3-point field goal percentage at 41.3 percent. Liz Arnold '22 posted her third double-double this season with 11 points and 10 boards, including six on the offensive glass.

Hannah Fox paced Amherst with 14 points and seven rebounds. Maggie Shipley contributed 10 points, four assists and three blocked shots. Cam Hendricks registered 10 points, seven boards and three steals, and Courtney Resch scored 10 points. Madeline Eck added seven points, four assists and three steals.

Zarle's trifecta on a pass from Mackenzie Aldridge '20 gave the Continentals a 56-53 edge. The Mammoths came back down and Resch grabbed an offensive rebound and made the layup with 13.0 seconds remaining. After both teams called a timeout, Hamilton inbounded the ball near halfcourt and Amherst committed a foul on purpose to get closer to putting the Continentals in the bonus. Hamilton threw away the ensuing inbounds pass and the Mammoths called another timeout with 8.2 seconds to go.

Amherst inbounded the ball in front of its bench to Fox who dribbled around the perimeter and eventually drove down the left side of the lane. She threw up a scoop shot that missed badly with about a second left and Arnold secured the rebound as the final buzzer sounded.

Neither team led by more than seven points and there were seven ties and nine lead changes. The Mammoths scored the first seven points before Arnold put the Continentals on the scoreboard nearly four minutes into the first quarter. Fox restored the seven-point cushion a short time later, but Hamilton finished the quarter with a 10-2 run. Claire Sehring '22 put the Continentals in the lead for the first time at 12-11 on a layup with 24 seconds remaining.

Hamilton scored the first four points of the second quarter and went up 16-11 on two free throws by Kayla Glemaud '21 and a Zarle jumper. The Continentals led for nearly the entire quarter and held Amherst scoreless for the last three-plus minutes of the half. A layup by Scout Lansing '21 with 2:32 to go gave Hamilton a 22-20 edge at the break.

The Continentals opened the third quarter with a 7-2 spurt and took their largest lead of seven points. A jumper by Zarle made it 29-22 with 6:54 left. The Mammoths responded with a 9-1 run and went back in front at 31-30 with 2:22 remaining. The teams went into the fourth quarter tied at 37-37 and weren't separated by more than three points the last 14 minutes. Hamilton was 8 of 15 from the field in the fourth quarter.