Box Score
WALTHAM, MA.- Williams women's
basketball (6-3) had its five game winning streak halted by
non-conference opponent Brandeis (7-2) in a
75-56 loss. The Judges, ranked No. 14 in the
preseason Top 25 poll, built a twenty-point lead at the half and
never looked back. Despite having dropped out of
the polls since the start of the season, Brandeis still remained
too formidable an opponent for the Ephs to handle.
“We got flustered early,” said
Williams head coach Pat Manning. “They
[Brandeis] came out on fire, and we did not recover.”
Brandeis opened the game with two
three-pointers before Niki Savageau responded with her own shot
from behind the arc to bring the score to 6-3 with 18:26 to
play. Behind by only three points, it was
the closest the Ephs would be to the lead for the entire
contest.
The three by Brandeis proved to be a fatal
blow for the Ephs, as the Judges went 6-of-11 from downtown in the
first half. They would finish the afternoon
shooting 55.5 percent from the three point line.
Brandeis continued their offensive attack, mounting a 25-10 run to
bring their lead to twenty with five minutes in the period.
Down 45-24 at the break, Williams could have
allowed the opposition to really do some damage in the second half
and expand their lead. Early in the period it
seemed as though Brandeis would do just that, and increased their
lead to twenty points with 14:55 on the clock.
Down but not out, the Ephs still had some fight left in them in the
waning minutes of play.
“In the second half we could have packed
it in, “ continued Manning.
“But we didn't cave, and came back and
fought. We just lost our composure early on but
played much better defense in the second half, and an overall
better game on both sides of the court later on.”
With 9:29 remaining in regulation Williams
amassed an 8-0 run over a three minute span to narrow the
Judges' lead to twenty-two. Jessica Chapin
hit Brandeis' eleventh three of the night with 5:08 left in
play, but the Ephs responded with some defensive fervor and shutout
their opponents in the final five minutes. They
countered offensively with another 8-0 spurt to narrow the final
score to 75-56.
Jamie Capra scored a game-high 25 points for
Brandeis, while Jessica Chapin and Lauren Orlando contributed 16
and 13 points respectively. The remaining two
starters, Cassidy Dadaos and Kiersten
Holgash notched eight points each.
While Brandeis' starters combined for
seventy of their seventy-five points, Williams
received another impressive performance off their
bench. Freshman Jessica Harris recorded a
double-double with 15 points and 12 boards, and is averaging 8.9
points a game. Mika Peterman chipped in 15 points, while
Taylor Shea added 6 points.
Williams will return to action at Lehman on
December 29 at 12:00 p.m.
