WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – The Williams women's
basketball team dropped a heartbreaker to the Colby Mules (14-5,
4-3 NESCAC) tonight 62-56. The Ephs move to 17-4 on the year and
4-3 in NESCAC play.
The two teams found themselves perfectly matched in the first
half. The Ephs looked like they were going to take the game
over when they started an 11-2 run nine minutes into the
game. With her team down four, Grace
Rehnquist swooshed a baseline three. Danny Rainer
then made a lay-up to give the Ephs the 16-15 lead.
After Jill Vaughan finished in the paint for the Mules, the Ephs
continued their run. Jill
Greenberg pulled-up on a drive to the hoop to take the 18-17
lead. On the next Eph possession, Lisa Jaris kept
play alive with a pretty offensive rebound. The possession
resulted in another drive from Greenberg – this time she
finished in the paint. The final hoop in the run came from
Rainer, who backed down her defender and converted the bucket to
make it 22-17 with 6:08 on the clock.
Rachael Mack responded for the Mules with a lay-up after Jacky
McLaughlin grabbed an offensive board to keep the Mules on the
attacking end of the court. Vaughan then had a pretty put-back to
make it 22-21 with 3:10 on the clock.
The Ephs and Mules traded hoops the rest of the half, and the
two teams went into the locker room tied at 28.
Out of the break, the Ephs and Mules continued to trade
hoops. The Mules, however, started to take a decisive lead
when they went up five behind a nice hoop from behind the arc by
McLaughlin to make it 41-36 with 11:26 on the clock. Just
under two minutes later, McLaughlin added a baseline three to push
the lead to eight. Aarika Ritchie then went two-for-two from the
line to give Colby the double-digit lead.
The Ephs responded with a put back in the paint from Rainer to
make it 46-38 with 8:40 on the clock. Williams forced a
travel on the next Mule possession but was unable to convert off of
the turnover. Ritchie then swooshed a three for the Mules with the
shot clock winding down to push the lead back to eleven.
On the other end of the floor,
Kellie
Macdonald was fouled in the act of shooting for the Ephs.
She made the lay-up and the free throw to convert the three-point
play.
Ellen Cook was
then fouled driving to hoop. She went one-for-two from the
charity space to cut the lead to 49-42.
After the Ephs missed some big opportunities, Mack swooshed a
three from the top-of-the-key. Jayde Bennett then drove to the hoop
for two to push the lead to 54-42 with just under four left to
play. Rehnquist responded for the Ephs with a hoop of her own in
the paint.
Williams forced a turnover on the next Mule possession.
Jaris then drove to the hoop for the Ephs on the attacking end of
the floor. She was fouled and made both free throws to cut
the lead to eight.
To keep the Ephs' momentum going, Macdonald grabbed an offensive
rebound and dished the ball out to Rehnquist just beyond the arc on
the left baseline. Rehnquist knocked down the hoop to make it
54-49. Vaughan finally responded, though, for the Mules with a
bucket in the paint. On the opposite end, Greenberg was fouled
while shooting a three. She made all three foul shots to make
it 56-52 with 1:18 on the clock.
After the two teams traded foul shots, Mack put her team up six
with just under 30 seconds to play when she sunk both free throws
on a one-and-one opportunity. Greenberg then drove to the hoop for
two for Williams. The Ephs, however, were unable to get
another good look at the net, and the Mules walked off the court
with the hard-fought victory.
Leading the way tonight for the Mules was Mack, who posted a
double double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Vaughan added
15 points and eight rebounds for Colby, who shot 38.3% from the
field on the night.
Rehnquist led the way for the Ephs with 16 points. Greenberg and
Rainer added 14 and 12 points respectively. Williams shot
38.8% from the floor.
Said Coach Manning after the game, "I just think we weren't
consistent. I thought we played a solid first half actually, but we
were getting killed on the boards at halftime. We went in
down 25-15 (in rebound differential), and they had ten offensive
rebounds in the first half. We were tied when we really had played
so well except the rebounding; we really should've had a lead."
About the second half she added, "I just thought there were some
mental lapses. I don't think we played the defense we are
capable of playing. They made us pay – they had some
big shots. Offensively, we didn't make the best
decisions."
Manning went on to say, "I think it was mental mistakes [that
cost us]. I think we played to the scoreboard. We were
too conscious of it. We really stress playing one possession
at a time, and we didn't do that. We panicked a little, and that
transferred over into our offensive execution. Something we're
focusing on that we really need to improve on [is playing] 40
minutes. I think overall we played solid [basketball], but
the lapses we had really cost us."
The Ephs look to rebound tomorrow against Bowdoin. The
Senior Day match-up will begin at 2 PM.
Looking ahead to tomorrow, Manning added, "Bowdoin's a really
good team. Tomorrow's Senior Day. It's a big day
obviously for our seniors, but it is a big challenge for our
team. This is a key part of our season, and we just need to
regroup and come back strong tomorrow."
