Box Score
Photo
Gallery
WILLIAMSTOWN, MA — Freshman Rachelle
Walker led Springfield with 19 points Tuesday night as the
Pride improved to 2-1 with a 68-52 victory over Williams in the
Chandler Gymnasium.
Walker was one of three Springfield players in double figures as
forward Lauren O'Connor posted a double-double with 16 points
and 14 rebounds and senior Tara McCarthy added 16 points.
Junior guard Mika Peterman of Williams led all scorers with 21
points, but the Ephs could not overcome an ice cold shooting night
(18 of 64, 28.1 percent) from the floor as they fell to 1-2 on the
season.
The Ephs are off until Tuesday, Nov. 27 when they travel to take
on RPI for a 6 p.m. tip-off.
“I thought we had a lot of opportunities we just
didn't finish,” Williams head coach Pat Manning said.
“Especially in the first half. We didn't move well
against their defense, Springfield plays a very aggressive defense
and they played it well tonight, I have to give them a lot of
credit.”
Williams took its biggest lead of the night early on in the
first half when Peterman nailed one of her five three-pointers in
the game for a 14-10 advantage. But as they would do all game long,
the Pride answered authoritatively with a 7-0 run that included a
Walker lay-up off her own steal.
Peterman knotted the game again with another three-pointer and
the two teams would not be separated by more than two points until
2:15 remained in the half. Springfield senior Christine Cotter
scored a bucket inside the paint for a 30-27 lead for the Pride,
igniting a 6-0 run for the visitors which saw them enter halftime
witht a 34-27 edge.
Williams came out quickly in the second half and cut its deficit
to 36-32, but a three-pointer by McCarthy from the right corner
upped the Pride lead to nine.
The Ephs would hit only 26.7 (8 of 30) of their shots from the
floor in the second half and the Pride slowly took advantage,
extending their lead to16 points with 9:02 remaining on an
O'Connor bucket inside the paint.
Springfield caught fire offensively in the second half, shooting
57.7 percent (15 of 26) from the floor. The Pride attacked the
basket, and when Williams would collapse, they would kick it back
to the perimeter for an easy bucket.
The Pride finished with 18 assists on 28 field goals for the
night, and also outrebounded Williams, 41-36.
Walker capped her night by hitting three threes in the span of
two minutes. She went 7 of 11 from the floor, and hit on 4 of her 6
three-point attempts.
“We didn't answer their intensity when we needed
to,” Manning said. “We didn't execute well and we
didn't finish when we had the chances to.”
Williams first-year Taylor Shea had eight points and a team-high
13 rebounds in the loss while senior guard Niki Savageau
contributed 11 points and four steals. Furst-year Jessica Harris
added nine points and seven rebounds.
