WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – The Williams women's basketball team bounced back from their first loss of the year yesterday with a win over the Bates Bobcats (6-7,1-1 NESCAC) 71-40. With the win, the Ephs (12-1, 1-1 NESCAC) notched their first league victory of the year.
The Ephs started to take the game over on the shoulders of Claire Baecher. Just under seven minutes in, she backed down her defender in the paint and finished off of a pretty spin move. On the next Eph possession, she drove to the hoop to give the Ephs the four-point lead.
Grace Rehnquist got in on the action for the Ephs as well with a deep three from the top of the key. Allie Beaulieu responded for the Bobcats with a pretty drive to the hoop. Kelsey Flaherty then stole the ball on the next Eph possession, but Bates was unable to convert, and Baecher scored a transition hoop to force the Bobcats' first timeout with just under ten on the clock.
Out of the break, Flaherty drove to the hoop and finished for two, but Rehnquist responded with a baseline three-pointer for the Ephs. After trading hoops for several minutes, Baecher swooshed a long ball to push the lead to double digits with 6:10 on the clock. The Ephs finished the half on a 16-2 run that included a long ball apiece from Ellen Cook and Jen Borderud and a pair from Baecher. They went into the locker room with the 41-17 lead behind Baecher's 18 first-half points.
Out of the break the Ephs continued to add to their lead by going on an 8-0 run behind four points from Jill Greenberg and a lay-up apiece from Danny Rainer and Baecher. The Bobcats finally broke the spell with 15:45 on the clock when Allaina Murphy finished inside after getting her own rebound. The Ephs' continued to be hot on the offensive end, though, and their shooting proved overpowering for the Bobcats.
No one reached double digits today for the Bobcats, but center Brianna Hawkins led the team with seven points. The Bobcats shot 26.9% from the floor.
Leading the way this afternoon for the Ephs was Baecher with 22 points. She also pulled down 10 rebounds for a double double. With ten points, Rehnquist was the only other person in double digits for the Ephs, who shot 36.0% from the field.
After yesterday's loss, Coach Manning spoke about how critical today's win was: "This [win] was incredibly important. We felt that yesterday we just didn't compete," she said. "We play in the toughest conference in the country, and you're always in for a battle. It's always a fight in the NESCAC. We really felt today would tell us a lot about ourselves – how we were able to come back from our disappointing effort yesterday. This was tremendous. [I] couldn't ask for more.
She added, "We saw contributions from so many people. I thought Jen Borderud off the bench made a huge difference for us – really pushing the pace and getting us running. People really stepped up [today]. We needed that today; we needed everyone to step up. I couldn't be happier with their effort."
With regards to Baecher's contributions, she said, "Claire's strength is incredible athleticism and also the poise she shows. She just plays. I thought in the first half yesterday she started off kind of slowly, but she really fought through it in the second half. Today she came really determined. I really think her level-headed, just-play-hard attitude makes a huge difference for us."
Finally, Manning commented on her team's defense, which has been one of its biggest strengths this year, "No matter what happens on the offensive end, your defense should be consistent. Our defense wasn't yesterday. We really focused on that [today]. We always want to start our games defense first, and we did that today."
The Ephs will take on Maine-Presque Isle on Wednesday at 7 PM while Bates will face NESCAC foe Colby Friday evening at 6 PM.
