Box Score WILLIAMSTOWN, MA -- Claire Baecher scored 17 points and Ellen Cook added 14 Sunday afternoon to lead a balanced Williams College women's basketball team's attack against cross-county rival Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.
The Ephs pulled away for a 65-31 victory in the Chandler Gymnasium, improving to 4-0 on the season. Williams will host its own Holiday Classic Friday and Saturday, opening the action Friday night at 6 p.m. against RPI.
MCLA suffered its first loss of the season to go with its two wins. The Trailblazers will face Lehman Friday night at the Salisbury University Tournament.
"I think tonight we put it all together offensively," Ephs' head coach Pat Manning said. "We did a better job finding the posts, executing in transition and we moved the ball much better than we had been."
The Ephs used a balanced attack to offset the loss of senior Grace Rehnquist, who was out with an injury. Four players -- Claire Baecher, Kellie Macdonald, Ellen Cook and Jennie Harding -- combined to score 29 of their 37 first-half points.
Williams shot the ball the best it has all season to date, hitting 45 percent (5 of 11) beyond the arc. Harding hit two three's early which seemed to set up the hot-shooting half, as the Ephs finished with 47 percent shooting from the floor for the half.
Baecher and Macdonald each finished the half with eight points, while Cook had seven and Harding six. In addition, the Ephs outworked MCLA on the glass to the tune of a 25-14 advantage.
The Ephs led 18-9 mid-way through the first half and pulled away for a 21-point lead by the break. Cook hit a three from the left wing off a kickback from Rainer for a 21-9 lead with 8:15 to go. Beacher came up with a steal on the defensive end and went coast-to-coast for the lay-in that made it 23-9.
After a Lucy Tremblay jumper hoit nothing but net for the visitors, Rainer hit a turnaround jumper in the paint from 10 feet that made it 25-11. Following a Harding steal, Macdonald hit a try from the left corner off a pass from Katie Litman for a 28-11 advantage.
The second half began with an 8-2 Williams run that left the hosts up by 27 at 45-18 just 2:35 into the period. Rainer began the run with a short jumper from the baseline. A Rainer steal led to a Baecher lay-up off an assist from Macdonald, and a Beacher putback followed that. Cook scored an easy bucket off a great transition from Williams that led to the 27-point lead.
Kait Chenevert led MCLA with 10 points while Tremblay finished with nine. Johanna Miner led the team with eight rebounds.
Rainer had her best all-around night of the season, scoring eight points, adding a team-high nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Macdonald also scored eight points, while Harding notched six to go with five rebounds. Cook added four rebounds and four assists to her 14-point night, while Baecher had five rebounds and two blocks to go with her 17 points.
Williams finished with a 47-30 edge on the glass.
