AMHERST, Mass. -- First-year AnLing Vera scored 11 points while senior Gabrielle Zaffiro and sophomore Reeya Patel added nine points each Friday night as the Amherst College women's basketball team advanced to the Elite 8 of the Div. III NCAA Tournament with a 48-45 victory over NESCAC rival Tufts in front of a crowd of 556 at LeFrak Gymnasium.

Amherst (24-3) will take on Trinity (Tx.) University (28-2) with a spot in the Final Four on the line Saturday. LeFrak Gym tip-off time is 6 p.m. Trinity defeated #1 Christopher Newport in Friday's first third round game, 76-71. 

It was the third victory over the Jumbos this season for Amherst. The Jumbos end their season with a 22-5 mark. 

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* Amherst's first-half defensive effort was its usual stingy quality. The Mammoths held Tufts, the top-scoring offense in the conference to only 8 first-quarter points and 18 for the half. The Jumbos shot only 17.6 percent (3 of 17) from the floor in the first quarter and did not record a single basket for a stretch of 7:01. 

* Things did not get much better for the visitors in the second quarter as they managed 10 points, but settled for a slightly improved 23.1 percent from the floor for the quarter and 20 percent (6 of 30) from the floor in the opening half.  Tufts First Team All-Conference selection Maggie Russell with nine points, but shot just 23.1 percent (3 of 13) from the floor. 

* The Mammoths forced Tufts into 8 first-half turnovers and dominated in the paint, scoring 12 of their 31 points. Courtney Resch scored eight points and Patel seven. Amherst led 17-12 in the second quarter when Resch hit the first three-pointer of the game for either team, draining a shot from just right of the top of the key. Following a Vera defensive rebound, Patel drained a trey from the left elbow for Amherst's first double-digit lead of the night, 23-12, with 5:32 remaining before the half. 

* The two teams combined for one point in the opening 3:47 of the third quarter before Zaffiro broke through with a trey of her own off the left wing, giving the Mammoths a 34-19 lead. After a pair of Tufts free throws, Patel pulled up and drained a 12-foot jumper for a 36-21 advantage. Tufts stayed in the game in the third quarter despite not having a successful field goal for the first 7:08 of the period. But when Rosa converted an old-fashioned three-point play with 2:52 left, the Jumbos trailed by only 10 at 37-27. 

* A mid-range jumper by Zaffiro maintained Amherst's 10-point lead 55 seconds in to the fourth quarter. Tufts then suffered a big blow when Russell fouled out with 8:03 remaining. But Amherst, with Resch and Dani Valdez both on the bench with four fouls, found it hard to take advantage. Tufts crept its way toward the lead, cutting the deficit to only three with 66 seconds left after a Joelle Zeloney three-point play in the paint and one Rosa free throw.

Tufts had the ball down three, but Vera came up with a huge steal near midcourt and was intentionally fouled. She missed both, but Valdez was fouled on the ensuing inbounds play and sank both of her attempts to make it a 47-42 Mammoth lead. After a Ryan missed three for Tufts, Maya Cwalina went to the line and hit one of two attempts with three seconds left to seal the win. 



BY THE NUMBERS:

* 5 players in total fouled out the game. Resch and Jade Duval for Amherst and Russell, Rosa and Annika Decker for the Jumbos. 

* Rosa led Tufts with 11 points. Russell and Molly Ryan had 10.

* Resch had two blocks in the win and now has 173 for her career, one shy of a second-place tie all-time with Lem Atanga McCormick.  

*  Tufts shot 21 percent (13 of 62) from the floor, but 72.7 percent (16 of 22) from the foul line. Amherst shot 33.3 percent (16 of 48) from the floor, but only 50 percent from the foul line (12 of 24).