HARTFORD, Conn. -- Down 20 points with 10 minutes left in Sunday's NESCAC Tournament championship game, the Amherst women's basketball team crafted a comeback built off tremendous defensive pressure and -- on this day -- a sudden ability to hit the three-pointer. The Mammoths held Bates without a field goal for the entirety of the fourth quarter, drained four of their first nine threes and cut that 20-point deficit to only five. 

It was not enough however, to overcome the first three quarters, and Bates prevailed with its first-ever conference crown via a 51-42 score at Ray Oosting Gym on the campus of Trinity College. The fifth-seeded Bobcats receive the NESCAC's automatic berth into the NCAA Div. III Tournament. The third-seeded Mammoths fell to 21-3. They await word on an at-large berth into the tournament. The NCAA Div. III Women's Basketball selection show is Monday at 2:30 p.m.

Dani Valdez netted a game-high 13 points  and a team-high six rebounds for Amherst while AnLing Vera chiopped in 11 points.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* Down 40-20 after three quarters, Amherst put together an 11-0 run over the first 6:23 of the fourth and final quarter. Vera hit a three out of the gates to get the ball rolling. From 8:28 to the 7:09 mark, the Mammoths forced three straight Bobcat turnovers that led to six points. Senior Jade Duval converted an old-fashioned three-point play from the paint with the lay-in and the free throw. Valdez's turnaround lay-in with 7:09 left made it 40-29. After a succession of each team missing chances, a steal by Duval eventually led to Valdez going to the line and making both freebies to make it 40-31 with 3:56 remaining. 

* Bates scored its first five points of the quarter from the line, pushing its lead back to 14 with 2:10 left. But in a span of 65 seconds, Courtney Resch, Lauren Pelosi and Vera would drain three-point baskets -- one more than the Mammoths had in the game at that points -- to bring Amherst within five points at 45-40 with 43 seconds left in the game. The final 43 seconds would not go the Mammoths way however, as they went 1 for 5 from the floor while the Bobcats shot 6 for 8 from the foul line to pull away. 

BY THE NUMBERS:

* The Mammoths shot just 20 percent (8 of 40) from the floor over the first three quarters. They shot 37.5 percent (6 of 16) before the final 43 seconds of the fourth quarter. Overall, they finished at 24.6 percent (15 of 64) from the floor. 

* Bates controlled those Mammoth misses as well, winning the battle on the glass, 53-36. Amherst forced 7 of Bates' 18 turnovers in the final quarter, in which the Bobcats went 0 for 7 from the floor but 11 of 14 from the foul line. 

* Megan Graff led Bates with 20 points, Mia Roy had 12. Duval finished with six points and five rebounds for Amherst.