Box Score
MIDDLETOWN,
CT. - Williams women's basketball (14-4, 3-0
NESCAC) continued their strong play against conference opponents,
upping their undefeated NESCAC record to 3-0 in a road win at
Wesleyan (6-9, 0-3), 53-46.
It was not an easy tally in the win column for
the Ephs. Williams
struggled on the offensive end for most of the night, but was able
to counter their shooting woes with a strong defense.
Williams led by 24-20 heading into the final
minute of the first half. Wesleyan attempted a
shot from behind the arc on their following possession, but could
not connect. On
January 12, Williams defeated W
esleyan at home, 73-70. The Cardinals set a
program record, scoring 13 three-pointers in one
game. In today's contest, Wesleyan went
0-for-7 from three-point range in the first half. They would finish the game
shooting 3-of-14 from three-point range.
On the final drive of the first half, Wesleyan
scored off a mid-range jumper to halve the lead and head into the
locker room behind by just two, 24-22. Both
teams shot 9-of-30 (30%) from the floor in the first twenty
minutes.
“Scoring was tough tonight,” said
Williams' head coach Pat Manning.
“Our defense was good, but so was their defensive
effort. It was just two teams out on the court
going at it, and it came right down to the wire. In the end, in the
final minutes, our defense was at its best and we scored some key
baskets down the stretch.”
Williams shot a poor 28.9% from the floor in
the second
half, while Wesleyan
improved their shooting percentage to 45.5. The
Ephs played catch-up for a good portion of the second half as the
Cardinals grabbed the lead off a McKinley Tennant three-pointer at
36-35 with 12:38 to play. Lisa Jaris would knot the game
at 41-41 with 5:29 left in regulation with a three-point play.
Despite being out rebounded by the Cardinals
40-35, the Ephs pulled off the win wth the solid
defense. Jill Greenberg stole the lead for good
just thirty seconds after Jaris' game-tying play off two free
throws, but Williams would never pull away by much taking their
greatest lead in the final seconds off some clutch free-throw
shooting.
With 53 seconds to play, Williams led by
50-46. Eileen Gaffney
had a strong post move inside for Wesleyan but her shot rimmed out,
and the Ephs grabbed the defensive rebound. The
Cardinals immediately fouled Greenberg, and she knocked down both
shots from the stripe to give the Ephs a six-point
advantage. Jackson was fouled on the ensuing
Ephs possession, and hit the back end of her two to ice the game,
53-46.
Jackson finished with a game-high 17 points
for Williams, while Greenberg followed with 12 points. Jaris added
8 points, while Jennie Harding was strong on the glass for the
Ephs, pulling down 8 boards.
Sam LaCroce scored 14 and grabbed 9 boards for
the Cardinals. Gaffney had 12 rebounds and 9 points, while Tennant
added 11 points and Melanie Ferdinand had 9
rebounds.
Williams will continue their road weekend,
playing at Connecticut College tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.
