Box Score
CLINTON, NEW YORK – It was a tale of two
halves for Williams women's basketball (2-5) this afternoon
versus Hamilton (3-2). Unfortunately it's
a tale they hope to forget quickly. Looking to
use their victory against RPI on Tuesday as a springboard to
improve their poor early season record, the Ephs blew a nine-point
first half lead and suffered their fifth loss on the year, 70-58.
Williams played a spectacular final 7:57 of
the first half, keeping Hamilton at 23 points for that entire
stretch. The
defensive showing allowed the Ephs to mount a 13-0 run to head to
the locker room with a lead to build on in the second period at
32-23.
“Our defense totally broke down,”
said Ephs head coach Pat Manning, referring to the second half
meltdown. “We
didn't take good shots to start the half, they ran off our
misses, and tied it up in a hurry and we never
recovered. We panicked and continued to take bad
shots.”
The Continentals tied the game nearly five
minutes into the second half, and the score flip-flopped for the
next eight minutes.
While Williams may have played feiry defense in the first half,
they could not return to that same play when it mattered
most. This time Hamilton put together a run of
their own, keeping Williams scoreless for five minutes to take a
nine-point lead, 58-49, at the four minute mark.
It was the play of Laura Wetmore that drove
Hamilton's offense in the second frame.
She drained six shots from behind the arc to bury the Ephs'
hopes of a comeback, scoring a game-high 32 points.
“Her run did it for us,” said
Manning. “It
was an overall frustrating loss.
Everything we did well on Tuesday [against RPI] we did not
do well tonight.”
The Ephs out rebounded Hamilton in the first
half 23-20, but couldn't seem to grab a ball in the second
period. The
Continentals led the final margin on the glass, 47-41, by mounting
a 27-18 effort in the final twenty minutes on the
court.
Mika Peterman and Chessie Jackson led the Ephs
with 13 points apiece. Jackson recorded a
double-double, adding 10 rebounds on the night.
Jessica Harris contributed 9 points, while sophomore Taylor Shea
returned from a bout with mono to score 7 points.
Sarah Shrader and Sydney Fasulo added 12
points each to round out Wetmore's hot
hand. Fasulo added 11 boards for a
double-double.
The Ephs will have three weeks to mull over
the loss and their early slump before heading to the Santa Barbara
Tournament in California on December 30.
