By D3sports.com

AMHERST, Mass. � You would think on a roster in which the overwhelming majority of those who get playing time are freshmen and sophomores, that the pressure of the goal to win a national championship would wear a team down.

But the Amherst women�s basketball team, which faces Washington University in the national semifinals Friday, has done just the opposite. If anything, the situation at hand has made them better.

�We�ve had it in our heads to make it to where we are right now,� said Lord Jeffs freshman point guard Shannon Finucaine (Fih-NEW-kin). �We don�t think of it as pressure. I don�t think you should come in thinking of playing for anything less than a national championship. That�s always been a state of mind in my family, and I like to surround myself with people who think like that as well.�

With the 5-foot-3 Finucaine, a native of Cortland, N.Y., leading the way, Amherst dominated against both NYU in the round of 16 and Brandeis in the national quarterfinals. The traits that stood out most from their play were the team�s poise, the ability of players to play bigger than their size, and the gimmick-free man-to-man defense that frustrated one of the top players in the country (NYU�s 3-time league player of the year Jessica McEntee) and one of the best guards in the University Athletic Association (Brandeis junior Jessica Chapin).

Over two days, the Lord Jeffs played nearly mistake-free basketball, almost never making an unforced mistake. They always seemed to be in the right spot on the floor at the right time. When we interviewed coach G.P. Gromacki before the round of 16 began, he repeated several times that his team was playing its best basketball of the season. It�s hard to imagine them playing any better than they have in their four NCAA wins, which have come by an average of 24.8 points.

Finucaine had 18 points and eight assists in the 74-51 win against NYU, then had a career-best 22 points and five assists in the 68-54 win over Brandeis, a game in which she went 10-for-10 from the free throw line. The 40 points in two games raised her scoring average to 8.6 points per game, which ranks fourth on the team behind forwards Jaci Daignault, Sarah Leyman and Lem Atanga McCormick, all of whom have had starring roles during the NCAA Tournament as well.

Finucaine�s performance in the NCAA Tournament was quite a turnaround from the NESCAC semifinals and finals, in which she missed 17 of 20 shots and had 10 turnovers in the two games, the last of which was a loss to Bowdoin in the conference championship. Gromacki said that the best characteristic of his team was its fearlessness. Finucaine�s knack for playing fearlessly in the big moment has come through the past two weekends, but especially in the last two rounds.

�Shannon has become a great leader both on and off the court,� Gromacki said. �I can�t say enough about her decision making. We couldn�t ask for more from her, and it�s been tremendous to see her grow throughout the season.�

With a starting lineup now comprised entirely of freshmen and sophomores, Finucaine is not shy about taking on a leadership role. There have been multiple instances this season in which she has pulled her teammates into a huddle instructing them to pick up their play, or reminding them that they could use a timeout if they had any trouble.

Having that kind of a player at that position allows Gromacki, for the most part, to sit back and watch, and let his players work through trouble.

�I don�t look at my age, or being a freshman,� Finucaine said.

�I�ve been a point guard my whole life. This is my team and this is my job. The job of the point guard is to keep the team together as the coach on the floor. My teammates have made it easy for me. At Amherst, there�s an intelligence level here, that everyone understands their role and the game so well. Everyone is comfortable with everyone else. We�re all friends. It�s easy to be able to give advice and share your opinions with each other. They�re smart players. They know what�s at stake.�