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WILLIAMSTOWN, MA. - Williams women's basketball
(17-5, 6-1 in NESCAC) rebounded from a disappointing conference
loss last night to defeat Bowdoin College (16-5, 3-4) at home this
afternoon, 75-54.
The victory marks the Ephs first win over the Polar Bears since
February 12, 2000, and clinches a home game for the first round of
the NESCAC tournament. Captain Elizabeth Hansen, the lone
senior on the team, was honored for her four-year contribution to
the program prior to today's game.
"The motivation behind this game was Elizabeth [Hansen]," said
Williams' head coach Pat Manning. "She is such an unselfish,
devoted, and dedicated player. The freshman set the gym up
before today's game, and the juniors wrote the tribute.
Everyone thinks so much of her. To recover from a
disappointing loss last night shows amazing resilience. It
was an all around collective effort today, and that epitomizes
Elizabeth. It was a fitting day."
Williams opened the game slowly, falling behind Bowdoin,
12-3. The Ephs picked up the defensive intensity quickly to
stop any further damage, and held Bowdoin scoreless for a five
minute period to push ahead of the opposition. Kelsey Ham
came off the bench to provide a defensive spark, and contributed on
the other end of the floor as well.
Ham scored a bucket off a fast break to tie the game at 14-14
with 12:35 left on the clock. A minute later a Taylor Shea
jumper would give the Ephs their first lead of the game. The
Ephs pulled ahead 24-16 with five minutes remaining in the first
half. Grace Rehnquist and Clare Baecher hit back-to-back
three-point shots to build a thirteen point advantage---the Ephs'
largest lead of the half.
Williams headed into the break ahead, 37-24.
With 13:43 remaining in regulation, Clare Baecher hit a three
from the wing. Jennie Harding followed with a steal and a lay
up to bring the Ephs advantage to fifteen points, forcing the
visiting squad to call a timeout. Bowdoin came out of the
timeout and threw a full-court press a
t the Ephs for much of the second half, but Wi
lliams handled the pressure with ease. Baecher hit another
shot from behind the arc to give the Ephs a 20-point plus advantage
at 68-46 and Williams sealed the win, 75-54.
"We let the game go last night against Colby because we did not
have any consistency," continued Manning. "Today we brought
defensive intensity, and did the little things. Our
rebounding was better, our boxing out was better. We put
together a complete game. It was a fun day all around."
Katie Bergeron scored a game-high 18 points for Bowdoin.
Caitlin Hynes added 10 points and 8 boards, while teammate Amy
Hackett chipped in with 12 points.
Four Ephs scored in double figures. Jill Greenberg led the
charge with 15 points. Baecher followed with 14, while
Rehnquist and Shea added 10 and 11 points respectively.
Williams will travel to Amherst and Trinity in their final
weekend of the regular season. Game time on Friday in Amherst
is set for 6:00 p.m.
