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WILLIAMSTOWN, MA. - Pat Manning has certainly seen better
looking season opening victories in her nineteen year career as the
head coach of the Williams women's basketball program, but she
picked up another win tonight nevertheless.
Starting three freshman and a sophomore, the Ephs (1-0) youth
was evident in the first frame but a solid defensive effort and
timely three-point shooting in the second half brought home a 67-55
win over Skidmore College (0-1).
"It was crazy, sloppy play at times, but that is November
basketball," said Manning. "The players had a great
preseason, and are talented but the first time for anybody, no
matter the class, brings typical jitters. Most importantly,
in crunch time, we did not see those jitters. Overall our
second half defense and second half rebounding won the game for
us. In the first half we had good shots, but they were not
falling."
Neither team could find their shooting touch in the early going,
as the score remained knotted at 8 points apiece nearly ten minutes
into the contest. Skidmore found some open looks from behind
the arc to pull ahead 21-15 at the 5:50 mark. Shooting almost
half of their first-half field goals from three-point range, the
Thoroughbreds were successful on just three attempts of seventeen
but used back-to-back scores from Sharlyn Harper to build the
slight advantage.
It would be Skidmore's largest lead of the night, as Manning
called a timeout to regroup her squad. The last five minutes
of play became the Mika Peterman and Jill Greenberg show, as the
tandem combined for 22 of Williams' 30 first half points with
eleven each, and pulled the Ephs ahead by five at the half.
The freshman guard, Greenberg, finished the game with 14 points,
and showed quickness and a good court vision that enabled her to
find Peterman in the clutch. Peterman, the senior leader and
calming presence for her less experienced teammates, tallied 16
points on the night.
Williams finally broke away nearly six minutes into the second
half, as the Ephs kept Skidmore to a five-minute scoring drought
and began to find their form from the outside. Chessie
Jackson got the ball rolling with a three from the top of the key,
while Elizabeth Hansen followed suit, nailing two back-to-back
three pointers. Greenberg capped off the three-point frenzy
with the Ephs' fourth successful shot from downtown to give the
home team an eleven-point lead, 51-40.
The Ephs capped off the 14-0 run with the type of play that they
hope will be their signature style. Jessica Harris finished
off a fast break play off a turnover that forced Skidmore to take a
timeout after facing their largest defecit at thirteen
points. The visiting team could not respond to the better
defensive effort by the Ephs in the second half, or a much improved
43 field goal percentage in the second frame.
If the 14-0 run revealed anything about this Ephs squad, it is
that they cannot live and die by their three-point shooting.
Although most of their shots came off kick-outs, their inside game
was fairly nonexistent. Skidmore played solid defense in the
paint, but Williams must look for more balance in their offensive
attack if they hope to compete against top level teams in the
NESCAC.
Chessie Jackson and Jessica Harris started off the season right
with double-doubles. Jackson notched 12 points and 11 rebounds,
while Harris contributed 11 points and 10 boards.
Skidmore's Laura Michel scored a team-high 12 points, while
teammates Megan Gaugler and Harper added 10 points apiece.
The Ephs will look to play a more complete 40 minutes of
basketball in the Williams Tip-Off Classic this weekend.
Fitchburg and Springfield will play at 6:00 on Saturday, while
Williams hosts conference opponent Middlebury with an 8:00 game
time.
