NEW LONDON, CT. — Jenn Shinall scored a game-high 30 points Saturday afternoon as the Connecticut College women's basketball team stunned No. 18 Williams, 81-72, in the Charles B. Luce Field House.
The Ephs fell to 14-2 overall, 2-2 in the NESCAC. Williams also lost junior Claire Baecher to an injury just six minutes into the contest. Senior floor leader Jill Greenberg led the team with 21 points and eight assists. Junior Danny Rainer netted 18 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
"We had our chances," said Ephs' head coach Pat Manning. "I thought Conn. College played very well, they hit big shot after big shot after big shot."
Despite the loss of their leading scorer, the Ephs trailed by just six at halftime, 40--34, then came out and scored the first six points of the second half on two baskets by Rainer and one by senior Lisa Jaris, who netted eight points and grabbed seven rebounds on the day, to tie the game.
A Tara Gabelman jumper regained the lead for the host Camels at 42-40 and minutes later, another jumper by Gabelman made it 44-41. Gabelman then came up with a block of Jaris down low, which led to a three-point bucket from Carlee Smith which made it a six-point game.
The Ephs deficit fluctuated between 10 and three points until Sinall drained a trey of her own with 6:58 remaining, putting the Camels in control with a 65-54 advantage. A three-pointer from Greenberg and three consecutive points from Rainer brought the Ephs back within five at 65-60 with 5:24 to go, but three Williams came up empty on its next three straight possessions and the Camels pulled away.
The Ephs were done in by their cold shooting, especially beyond the three-point line where they connected on just 4 of 24 (16.7 percent) of their attempts. In contrast, the Camels drained 10 of 17 three-point tries (58.8 percent), led by Shinall, who was 6 of 8 from beyond the arc.
"I thought Jill played well, she was driving the the basket well and was making great decisions, and Danny really stepped up today. Lisa also played well," Manning said. "But we didn't have any perimeter game whatsoever."
Gabelman finished with 17 points and 23 rebounds for the Camels.
