Box Score
WILLIAMSTOWN, MA. – If Wesleyan (8-7,
0-3) came to Chandler Gymnasium expecting to see the same Williams
basketball team as on January 13, when the Cardinals trounced the
Ephs in a 86-45 showing, they thought wrong.
Williams (6-11, 1-2) finally broke their losing skid for their
first win in six games through a fiery defensive effort in the
first half, and a calm finish under pressure in the final five
minutes of a 75-68 victory.
Chessie Jackson and Jessica Harris sparked the
Ephs offense in the first half, as the two sophomores combined for
28 of 34 points in the opening twenty minutes.
Jackson found her shooting touch quickly, starting the game with
two consecutive three-pointers. She notched her
third shot from behind the arc to solidify a 26-14 lead, before
Wesleyan whistled for a timeout.
The Ephs continued to surge ahead, leading by
as many as sixteen points at 30-14 with 5:56 left in the first
frame following two lay-ups in the lane by
Harris. The Ephs lead by ten at the break,
34-24.
While Jackson and Harris teamed up on the
offensive end, Harris and Taylor Shea made their presence known on
defense with the tough assignments of guarding Wesleyan's
Lucy Sprung and Ali Fourney, respectively.
Fourney leads the team with 19.5 points per game, and although she
finished the contest with a game-high 23 points, the Ephs kept the
star to just 5 points in the first half. Sprung
was kept to just 6 in the half.
“Taylor's [Shea] defense made a
huge difference,” commented Williams head coach Pat
Manning. “Jess
Harris was on Sprung, and they both played aggressive defense that
set the tone for the entire team both on defense and with
rebounding.”
This aggressive defense forced 20 Wesleyan
turnovers that allowed the Ephs to run the ball and play a fast
pace offense that they prefer.
Senior captain Mika Peterman was kept
scoreless in the first half, but came out firing in the second
period by scoring the first eight points for
Williams. The Ephs rebuilt another sizeable
lead, going ahead by twenty at 15:59. The two
teams continued to trade baskets until the final five minutes, when
Williams' grasp on the game began to loosen.
Fourney notched a traditional three-point play
in the lane to narrow the gap to twelve at the 4:07
mark. The Wesleyan forward was fouled on the
following possession, missed the front end of the one and one, but
was bailed out when teammate Meredith Lowe grabbed the rebound for
an easy put back at the block.
Lowe notched two free throws on the ensuing
possession to bring the score to 68-60 with 2:04 to
play. The inconsistent play that has plagued
Williams thus far in the season seemed to be creeping back quickly,
and the final minutes turned into a tight-knit battle.
“I felt like we had some veterans on the
floor, but mostly players who are new in that situation,”
said Manning.
“We haven't been in that situation since November, and
overall we made good decisions, but we still need to clean that up
a bit.”
Wesleyan continued to climb back into the
game. Fourney grabbed
a steal on an inbounds play, right under the basket, to narrow the
lead to 71-64. The
Cardinals resorted to fouling to stop the clock, and Peterman
missed the front end of a one-and-one situation, allowing Wesleyan
to score on the ensuing possession for a five-point game with 45
seconds to play.
The Ephs were whistled for traveling on the
following possession, and Lowe pulled up for a jumper at the foul
line to bring the Cardinals within three at 71-68 with 26 seconds
on the clock. Shea
and Jackson combined for a 4-of-6 effort from the charity stripe to
help seal
the win, 75-68.
“Our number one problem has been
inconsistency,” continued Manning.
“We would have 20 good minutes, and then fall apart, or vice
versa. Wesleyan is a good team with a lot of
weapons, and today we finally had a consistent effort for forty
minutes.”
Williams received a more balanced effort than
usual in tonight's game. Harris continued
from last weekend and finished with another stellar effort, scoring
19 and grabbing 11 boards. Jackson tallied 21
points, while Peterman contributed 13 points.
Shea was just two points shy of a double-double, notching 8 points
and tallying a game-high 15 rebounds. Freshman
point guard Jill Greenberg added 9 points and 9
assists.
Fourney tallied a game-high 23 points, moving
into third place on Wesleyan's all time scoring list with
1,361 points in her four-year career. Lowe added
16 points and 11 rebounds, while Sprung scored 13 points.
The Ephs have finally ended their losing
streak, but believe there is much more work to be done.
“It is nice, but it's just a
step,” said Manning. “We need to
forget about this game now, and think about Connecticut College
tomorrow. They are an aggressive team on
defense, and we need to clear our heads, and be fresh for tomorrow.
The Ephs host the Camels tomorrow at 3:00
p.m.
