Salem, MA - Williams overcame an early 10-point
deficit and rode the hot shooting of super-sub Grace
Rehnquist to cruise to a 62-47 win over RPI in the championship
game of the 2011 Salem State Holiday Classic Friday.
The Ephs improved to 10-0, while the Engineers dropped to
6-3. Williams is at the University of New England Monday
at 4 p.m.
"This was the best RPI team we've seen in recent years, so it
was nice to get this win," Ephs' head coach Pat Manning said. "It
was big for Grace to come here and have back-to-back games where
she had a huge impact on both ends of the floor."
Rehnquist finished with 14 points on 5-8 shooting, including 3-6
from beyond the arc. She was named tournament MVP, averaging 15.5
ppg in the two games and shooting 11-19 from the floor, including
7-12 from three-point range. Baecher also scored 14 and recorded
five blocked shots, as she earned all-tournament honors as well.
Greenberg just missed a double-double, finishing with 12 points and
nine assists.
Williams went nearly nine minutes without a basket in the first
half, as RPI opened up a 25-15 lead. The Ephs hit just 6 of their
first 28 shots, while the Engineers used a 14-0 run fueled by five
points from Kelly Piotrowskiand six from Hillary McKinley to build
the double-digit lead. Amazingly, Williams only trailed by two at
half (25-23), as the Ephs cut into the deficit with eight points in
the final minute thanks to a pair of threes from Jill
Greenberg and Jennie
Harding. Harding;s trey came with three seconds left and sent
the Ephs into the locker room with some momentum.
"We were just really tentative to start," Manning said. "We
looked out of sync and we were not making good, quick decisions
with the ball. In the second half we played with a lot more
intensity and executed much better."
McKinley powered in three early hoops in the second half to keep
RPI on top, and the Engineers led 35-32 with 15 minutes remaining.
Rehnquist drilled a three to tie the game at 35, and Greenberg's
jumper in the lane gave Williams the lead for good. Rehnquist and
Claire
Baecher scored every point in a 12-0 Williams run to put the
Ephs ahead 52-39 with four minutes remaining, and Williams
outscored RPI 27-6 over a nine-minute span to put the game out of
reach. Williams shot a sizzling 52 percent (15-29) in the second
half, and outscored the Engineers 39-22 over the final 20
minutes.
RPI was led by McKinley who had 19 points, 17 rebounds, and
three blocks. She was harassed by the Williams interior defense,
however, and shot just 9-19 from the floor, after hitting 10-14 in
Thursday's win over Salem State. Sarah Wetmore was the only other
Engineer player to reach double figures, as she finished with 11
points and 7 rebounds before fouling out.
