AMHERST, Mass. — The Middlebury College women’s basketball team dropped a pair of road NESCAC games this past weekend to finish its regular season at 11-13, 3-7 in league play, but still earned a NESCAC playoff berth with a No. 7 seed.
The Panthers will visit No. 2 seed Bowdoin (21-3, 9-1 NESCAC) on Saturday for a quarterfinal matchup. The Polar Bears defeated the Panthers, 55-43, in Middlebury on Feb. 8.
On this past Sunday, host Amherst (21-2, 8-2 NESCAC) pulled away in the second half for a 61-33 victory. Middlebury stayed close for a half, trailing by just six at the break, 25-19, but the Jeffs crafted a 17-0 run in the second half.
Sarah Kaufman led Middlebury with 11 points, while she and Alexis Coolidge each recorded six rebounds.
On Friday, host Trinity (9-15, 2-8 NESCAC) used late foul shooting to defeat the Panthers, 62-54. The Panthers trailed at halftime, 29-20, but chipped away at the lead until buckets by Coolidge and Elizabeth Knox tied the game at 48-48 down the stretch.
Trinity answered with four straight points, but a drive by Krystina Reynolds made it 52-50 with less than two minutes remaining.
Bantam Sheena Landy drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key, while Reynolds and Bantam Alexa Menard each sank two free throws, and it was 57-52, Trinity, at 0:51. Trinity then held Middlebury without a point until the closing seconds and connected on five more foul shots.
Knox led the Panther offense with 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Kaufman dished out a game-high six assists and added five boards.