WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – The Williams women's basketball team defeated Little Three rival Wesleyan (5-2) today 69-55. With the win, the Ephs move to 8-0. Although both teams are in the NESCAC, today's game did not count as a league game. It only counts towards the Little Three competition.
After trading baskets early, the Ephs started to get going offensively after a Claire Baecher steal. She passed to Danny Rainer who got the ball up court to Jill Greenberg. Greenberg finished to give the Ephs the one-point lead with just over eight minutes to play in the first half. On the next Eph possession, Rainer had a nice finish inside that forced Wesleyan's first timeout of the game. Out of the timeout, Greenberg stole the ball and took it the length of the court to make the lead five.
The Cardinals were quick to respond to the Ephs' run. Amber Wessells knocked down a huge three from the top left part of the arc. After the Ephs added a hoop apiece from Baecher and Rainer, Emily Lippe hit a long ball off the backboard to cut the lead back to three. On the next Eph possession, Lippe stole the ball and passed ahead to KellyAnn Rooney who finished to make it 21-20 with 6:12 to play.
The Ephs ended the half on a 15-1 run led by Greenberg, who had 14 points in the half and eight in the run. Two of her best plays both came off of steals – on the first, she stole the ball and took in the length of the court for a layup. She was fouled but was unable to make the free throw. Off of the second steal, she pulled up at the foul line for a pretty jumper. Another highlight of the run came when she penetrated the lane and dished the ball out to Grace Rehnquist at the top right part of the arc. Rehnquist sent a message for the Ephs when she swooshed the long ball.
The Ephs went into the half with the 35-21 lead.
Out of the break, the Cardinals cut into the Eph lead behind scrappy defense. After fighting the lead down to twelve several times, however, the Ephs responded by adding to their lead. After Greenberg hit a three to push the lead to 19, Sarah Doelger responded for the Cardinals with a three of her own from the left baseline. Wesleyan's fight, however, was not enough to overcome the Ephs' offensive power. Williams continued to control the rest of the game – pushing the lead to as many as 22 before winning by 14.
Jenna Klaes led the Cardinals with 17 points. he was the only person in double digits for the Cardinals, who shot 29.7% from the floor.
Leading the way for the Ephs was Greenberg with 23 points. She also had six steals. Baecher had 13 points for the Ephs, who shot 46.2% from the field.
Said Coach Pat Manning after the game about her senior captain, "[Jill]'s being the leader we need her to be. She's very poised and very under control. [There is] no question that she's our floor leader, and she just really took the game over. I think that's her job, and as a senior, that's what we need her to do. Jill's been consistent for all eight games. She's given us exactly what we need her to give."
Added Coach Manning about her team in general, "Today our goal was to really focus on defense and rebounding, and [we] felt like the offense would fall into place if we were doing those things, and it did. Welseyan is a very good rebounding team as they proved with 18 offensive boards. All of our attention was given to rebounding, boxing out, and playing good D."
Today's game is the Ephs' last until December 29th when they play Rutgers-Newark at Salem State. Tip-off is at 1:00.
Said Coach Manning looking ahead to the rest of the season, "We're really looking forward to Winter Study. That's a great time mentally for our team because there's not the academic pressure. We're thrilled to be where we are going into the break and are looking forward to great things seconds semester."
