Box Score
Boston, Mass – The Williams women's basketball team started their season off on the right foot with a 72-55 win over William Smith College in the 27th Annual Emmanuel College Invitational Tournament.
Williams got out to an early 5-2 lead, thanks to a three point play by Claire Baecher (Brunswick, Me.), but William Smith went on a run of their own to take a one point lead.
After trading threes midway through the first half, Williams regained the momentum with a three by sophomore Jennie Harding (Santa Monica, Ca), followed by another three by Jill Greenberg (Westwood, Mass).
With six minutes left in the half Molly Danahy (Troy, N.Y.) hit a couple of foul shots to give William Smith an 18-17 lead. Williams was able to put a run of their own together finished by a Grace Rehnquist (Sharon, Mass) three pointer to give Williams a 28-20 lead with two minutes remaining.
Going into the half Williams led William Smith 37-26. The Ephs were led by Grace Rehnquist with 15 points including two threes and 6-7 from the line. Pat Manning praised Rehnqist's performance saying, "Grace was a force coming off the bench with her explosive play."
Williams started out the second half with a three by Baecher and continued to push their lead to 44-32 with 17:30 left to play.
Williams continued to hit shots from behind the arc with Rehnquist hitting her third and fourth and Greenberg draining one of her own. To stretch the lead to 64-45 with six minutes left to play.
Williams maintains their lead for the rest of the game never letting William Smith come within 15.
Rehnquist had a game high 21 points. Baecher added 18 points and seven rebounds, with Lisa Jarvis chipping in 10 points. Taylor Shea led the Ephs with 11 rebounds.
Manning on Claire Baecher, "Claire had a very solid night. She really asserted herself on the court and she will be a key player down the road."
Manning was pleased with her team's performance but believes that there is still room for improvement. "Being the first game today was not as smooth as we would have liked. The players are still figuring out the system, but we were able to get the victory."
Williams (1-0) will now advance to the to the tournament championship on Sunday at 3:00 p.m.
