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WILLIAMSTOWN, MA- Looking to rebound from a disappointing loss
against archrival Amherst this past Saturday, the Williams women's
basketball team (10-4) faced off against Hamilton College (4-5) in
a non conference game at home.
The Ephs hoped to have a strong performance, but the .500
Continentals put up a tougher fight than anticipated. The
home team collected themselves in the final moments of the game to
pull off the 64-61 win and grab their tenth victory of the season.
"They [Hamilton] were an NCAA team last year" said Williams head
coach Pat Manning. "They had been off for ten days, and were
just looking to beat up on somebody. They challenged us,
rebounded well, and left it all out on the floor. It was a
good test for our team."
Opening the game strong, Williams quickly found themselves ahead
5-0. The Continentals would not stay quiet for long
though. Pumla Sathula found a rhythm from downtown, draining
two three-pointers to spark a 12-0 run by Hamilton. Down
15-10 at the 11:20 mark, Taylor Shea then took matters into her own
hands. Shea returned to the game to rattle off six
consecutive points to regain the lead for her squad with 9:44 to
play in the first period.
After calling a timeout, the tenacious Hamilton team bounced
back to amass an eleven-point lead. With Dominique de la
Torre on the bench in foul trouble, the Continentals' post players
really took it to the smaller Ephs squad. Hamilton's
rebounding proved to be the Ephs' downfall in the first half, as
they outrebounded the home team 26-16.
Chessie Jackson had been contained on the offensive end for most
of the first half, but it was only a matter of time before she
began to make a little noise. Niki Savageau penetrated the
zone defense, and then kicked the ball back out to Jackson who
notched her first three points of the game. Another Jackson
shot from behind the arc capped off a 9-0 run by Williams to narrow
the opposition's first half lead to three at 33-30.
The teams traded baskets for the opening ten minutes of the
second frame, neither team able to build a lead greater than four
points. Williams finally reclaimed their first lead since the
second minute of play after Mika Peterman coolly sank a three
pointer with the clock shot about to strike zero.
Ahead 45-44 at the 11:35 mark, the Ephs scored the next five
points. Jackson continued to provide a spark with her three
ball, and then made a nice pass to fellow freshman Jessica Harris
who completed the lay-in to nab their largest lead of the night at
50-44. Never letting themselves out of contention, Hamilton
clawed to within one point of the lead with four minutes to play.
Peterman, who along with Jackson proved to bail the Ephs out
with prolific shooting, reclaimed a five point lead with 1:58 to
play. On the ensuing play, Hamilton's Sathula drove in for a
lay up to score the 1000th point of her
career. Play was halted as she was honored for her
accomplishment.
In the final minute of play, the contest became a game of free
throw shooting. Now into the bonus, Peterman hit both free
throws with twenty one seconds left on the clock to put the Ephs up
64-59. Following the free throws, Hamilton's Laura Wetmore took the
ball up the court. In a controversial call by the referee,
Wetmore headed to the charity stripe despite claims from the
Williams side that she had merely tripped over herself.
Nonetheless, the game became even more interesting as the Hamilton
guard was successful on both free throw attempts.
To stop the clock, Peterman was fouled again but this time
missed the front end of the one and one. Able to break
Williams' press on the final possession, Hamilton's Jess Barrows
had an open look to tie the game but her shot was long.
Jackson grabbed the defensive rebound and held on for the final two
seconds to clinch the 64-61 victory.
"At halftime, I really emphasized rebounding," continued
Manning. "We managed to finish the game ahead in rebounds,
and that caused a big swing of things in the second half. We
took care of the ball, and took better shots. People really
stepped up at the end and that's what you want in a team."
Peterman finished the game with 21 points, while Harris
contributed 14 points. Jackson added 11 points and 9
rebounds, while Shea added 9 points and 9 rebounds. Sathula
led Hamilton with 20 points and 9 rebounds. Teammates Sydney
Fasulo and Jess Barrows added 13 and 9 points respectively.
Williams will open conference play this weekend against Bowdoin
and Colby. They face off first against Bowdoin on Friday at
7:30 p.m.
