by Rachel Rosten
Box Score
AMHERST, MA. - Inconsistency
was the name of the game for the Williams women's basketball
team. While Amherst mounted forty minutes of
intense defensive pressure and a relentless offensive attack, the
Ephs floundered on both ends and fell to the rival Lord Jeffs
65-53. Amherst improves to a perfect 13-0, while
Williams falls to 9-4 on the season.
In the teams' 62nd meeting,
Amherst snapped a fourteen game win streak by
Williams. The loss was Williams' first
since January 31, 2001 in Chandler Gymnasium when Amherst won in
overtime, 68-63. The Ephs still hold the
all-time series record, 40-22.
“I give Amherst a lot of credit,”
commented Williams' head coach Pat Manning.
“They played great defense and we did not get into a flow for
a consistent amount of time. We had spurts of
great defense and good offense, but Amherst attacked us very
well.”
Amherst notched the first two points of the
game, and Williams would never recover an
advantage. Within two of the lead following a
Taylor Shea jumper at 14-12, the Ephs' opposition went on a 13-4
run to build a thirteen-point lead with four minutes to play in the
first period. Williams consistently mixed up
their defensive pressure, shifting from man to man defense and a
two-three zone often. A well-coached Amherst
squad responded to the defensive changes with ease, achieving
success from behind the arc and inside the paint.
In a two-minute offensive possession by
Amherst, Williams showed their defensive chops.
The Lord Jeffs grabbed offensive rebound after offensive rebound,
and deflated the Ephs effort with a shot from three-point
range. While their defense was spot on,
Williams' rebounding flagged. The team
struggled to execute all elements of the game simultaneously,
allowing Amherst to capitalize on their
weaknesses.
Williams showed signs of improvement late in
the first period, mounting an 8-0 run to bring the first half lead
within five points, 30-25. Two back-to-back
three points plays by Mika Peterman and Dominique de la Torre
provided momentum for the Ephs heading into the second
frame. Peterman, who averages 16.0 points per
game, had been a non-factor in the Ephs offense.
She remained scoreless until the three point play late in the first
period, and finished the game with only six
points.
Looking sharp coming out of the locker
room, it looked as though Williams could make a game of
it. The Ephs cut the lead to one, 36-35, with 14:31 to
play and forced Amherst to call a timeout and
regroup. The Lord Jeffs responded, while
Williams' defensive intensity disappeared.
Amherst grabbed their largest lead of the night at fourteen points,
62-48, with four minutes to play and closed out their first victory
against the Ephs in seven years.
Poor free throw shooting and foul trouble
plagued the Ephs. Williams scored only 45.5 percent from the
charity stripe in the first half, knocking down only
5-of-11. De la Torre, an important presence in
the paint for Williams, committed her fourth foul with 14:37 left
in regulation forcing Manning to give her starting senior limited
playing time at key moments in the game. The
Lord Jeffs were already in the bonus midway into the second half.
Without the play of point guard Niki Savageau,
Williams would have probably dug themselves an even larger hole in
the first half. While the rest of the team
lagged, Savageau picked up the slack by creating scoring
opportunities for herself and leaving it all out on the floor.
“Niki had a great game,” said
Manning. “She played her heart
out.”
Finishing the game with 13 points and 5
assists, her 10-point effort in the first half certainly kept the
Ephs in contention for victory. Chessie Jackson
led all scorers with a game-high 16 points.
Jackson was quiet in the first half, but managed to start off
shooting 5-for-5 in the second period. Taylor
Shea chipped in 9 points.
Amherst produced a more balanced offensive
effort. Three starters contributed double-digit
efforts. Shaina Pollack, Samantha Swensen, and
Yasmine Harik scored fifteen, twelve, and ten points
respectively. Jaclyn Daignealut came off the
bench to score 9 points, while Stacy Brossy added seven
points.
Despite being conference rivals, today's
game will not count towards the NESCAC
standings. Neither Williams nor Amherst has
played in a conference match up, but the Williams-Amherst game in
Williamstown on January 26 will count towards their conference
records.
Williams will look to rebound from this loss
when they host Hamilton on Tuesday, January
15.
