HARTFORD, Conn. - Junior center Reilly Campbell (Wallingford, Conn) recorded a dominant 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 58-57 win over the visiting Amherst College Mammoths in the quarterfinals of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Women's Basketball Championship Tournament this afternoon on Ogrodnik Court in Oosting Gymnasium.  The No. 3-seeded Bantams improve to 21-4 on the season and advances to the semifinals next Saturday against Williams College at Tufts University.  Top-seeded Tufts will host the semifinals and final on February 25 & 26 at Cousens Gymnasium. Ticket information will be announced on Tuesday, February 21 in the afternoon. No. 6-seeded Amherst drops to 17-8 and hopes to be selected for the NCAA Tournament as an at-large pick. Trinity, ranked No. 17 nationally, looks to avenge their regular season one-point loss to the No. 2-seeded Williams Ephs next weekend. Amherst led, 38-32, at halftime.

"Our defensive intensity and discipline carried us in the second half," said Trinity Head Coach Emily Garner. "I'm so proud of the way our team locked in and executed our game plan to lead us to the win. The resilience of this group is amazing, and we're so proud of the way different people step up on different nights." 

The Bantams got to work early on the offensive end, with a three-pointer netted by senior forward Frankie Silva (Auburndale, Mass) just over 30 seconds into the contest. The Trinity offense caught great momentum in the first quarter of play, going up 16-7 with just under three minutes left. The \Mammoths battled their way back in the final two minutes of the first quarter, leaving the Bantams scoreless and cutting their lead to two points with a first-quarter score of 16-14 in favor of the Bantams. The Mammoths came out hot in the second quarter of play, claiming the lead for the first time just eight seconds in off a three-pointer by Kori Barach. The Mammoths went up by eight three minutes later, before junior guard Tori Varsamis (Belmont, Mass) came up big off the bench for Trinity at the end of the first half with consecutive treys that cut the Amherst lead to five.
 
The Bantams roared back in the second half of play, as senior guard Bria Fuller (Springdale, Md.) netted a three followed by two consecutive layups by Campbell to reclaim the lead. Junior forward Emma Wax (Pine Brook, N.J.) helped increase the Bantam advantage by netting the final five points of the quarter.  Trinity outscored Amherst, 15-4, in the third frame. The Bantams led by five going into the final quarter of play, but the Mammoths were not done. What started as a strong offensive quarter for the Bantams quickly turned into a close battle with under three minutes left in regulation. With the Bantams up by seven, Barach netted eight points for the Mammoths in just over a minute, cutting Trinity's lead to one with just over 60 seconds left to go. Amherst had the ball with 22.5 seconds left but Reeya Patel's jumper was closely defended and off the mark.

"Coach (Garner) just told us we had to clean up the defensive and offensive boards and keep them off the glass especially offensively, and we would limit their chances," said Wax.  "Coming off of half time that's exactly what we did, and we were able to get that momentum back on our side."
 
"I think our offensive momentum was driven by our defensive energy," said Reilly Campbell. "When we get stops and steals, we're able to control the pace of the game more which helps us be more offensively successful."