For the first time in the eight-year history of the NESCAC Tournament, the same school locked up the No. 1 seeds in both the men's and women's basketball tournaments.
Amherst College earned the distinction on Saturday after its women's team joined the defending national-champion men as conference regular season champions. The Lady Jeffs picked up a 77-51 victory over last-place Trinity to finish with a 7-2 NESCAC mark.
Tufts also finished with a 7-2 record in conference play, but Amherst owned the head-to-head tiebreaker on the strength of a 64-62 victory over the Jumbos on Jan. 18, giving the Jeffs their first No. 1 seed since the inaugural 2001 NESCAC Tournament.
The nationally-ranked No. 1 Amherst men's team, meanwhile, locked up the top seed in the men's tournament with a 78-67 victory at Wesleyan on Feb. 9. The Lord Jeffs also tacked on Saturday's 69-58 home win over Trinity to finish the regular season at 9-0 in NESCAC play, a full three games ahead of the second-seeded Bantams.
This season will mark the fourth consecutive year and the fifth time in the past six seasons the Lord Jeffs will enter the NESCAC Tournament as the No. 1 seed. However, Amherst has won the conference championship as the top seed only twice, having taken the 2001 and 2002 titles as the No. 4 seed.
