Box
Score
NEW LONDON, CT. –
Williams women's basketball (15-4, 4-0 in the NESCAC) picked
up their second road win of the weekend over Connecticut College
(8-9, 0-4), 69-51.
Since the Ephs' loss to archrival, and second-ranked, Amherst
at home on January 6, Williams has won five straight contests.
The eighteen-point margin of victory is
deceiving, as the Ephs and the Camels battled in a close contest
for most of the game.
Williams mounted a 9-0 run to grab their first double-digit lead of
the game at 15-5 with 12:39 to play in the first
half.
The Camels would cut the lead back to six just
two minutes later after Jennifer Shinall lit up from behind the
arc. A few key
defensive stops allowed the Ephs to build their biggest lead of the
half at eleven, 23-12, with 8:57 remaining on the clock.
The lead began to slip quickly for Williams
and minutes later, another Shinall t
hree-pointer brought Connecticut College to just four behind the
lead. With 1:45 left in the half, Shinall hits another shot from
long range to tie the game at 28-28. Williams
would lead by just two at the half, 32-30.
Connecticut College took the lead just 1:14
into the second half off a lay up by Rita Holak, bringing the score
to 35-34. The Ephs
immediately took back the lead off a Jennie Harding trey, and would
not relinquish the lead for the rest of the game, although the
Camels would challenge the Ephs until the final fives minute of
play.
Williams reached their first double digit lead
of the second half with 5:15 remaining in regulation
off a Jill Greenberg three-point play at
59-49. The Camels could not stop the Ephs run as
Williams ran away with the game, building their largest advantage
in the final seconds to take the win by eighteen points at 69-51.
“I think our shots started
falling,” said Williams' head coach Pat Manning,
referring to their late charge. “We made
good decisions with the ball, and were able to get better shots
off. Our defense really kicked in during the
last seven minutes of the game. But Conn.
[College] fights for forty minutes and really come after
you. They make you work very hard, and they
definitely made us work for it today.”
Greenberg scored a game-high 18
points. Chessie Jackson was strong on both ends
of the floor, scoring 17 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. Jennie Harding added 10
points and 7 boards, while Lisa Jaris contributed 9 points and 8
rebounds.
Emily Cummings scored 16 points for the
Camels. Jennifer
Shinall finished with 11 points, while sister Jacqueline Shinall
added 8 points. Holak
also contributed 8 points.
Williams will look to build of their road
weekend with another away game at Middlebury on Friday at 6:00
p.m.
“To be 4-0 in conference play is a great
start, and we are very excited about it,” commented
Manning. “Every
game is a tough game, and we are taking them one at a
time. It is always tough to get two road wins,
and Wesleyan and Connecticut College are two teams that come after
you so we are really happy that we were able to get two this
weekend.”
