Box Score WILLIAMSTOWN, MA—Four-and-a-half minutes had passed in Chandler Gym when, all at once, the basketball began to hurtle 'round the horn as though propelled by some unseen centripetal force. Suddenly, it flew into the center to Danny Rainer, who quickly hurled it back out to the perimeter to a wide-open Kellie Macdonald, who knocked down the three-pointer to give the Williams women's basketball team a 12-3 lead.
Once again, the Eph offense was firing on all cylinders.
Four players scored in double figures for Williams, which defeated Connecticut College on Saturday evening by a final tally of 68-43. The win was the third straight for the Ephs (12-2, 3-1 NESCAC), while the Camels (6-9, 1-3 NESCAC) suffered a disappointing result less than 24 hours after last night's win over Middlebury.
As has become their calling card this season, the Ephs played aggressively right from the opening tip and quickly raced out to a 7-0 lead, with Claire Baecher spearheaded the early charge in versatile fashion. In short order, she supplied a precise pass to Ellen Cook for the game's first points after receiving an inbounds feed, spun in the paint for a tough layup and collected an errant Camel pass to start the Ephs in their transition offense, a play that culminated in Macdonald driving up a baseline seam for a layup.
"We were fired up for this game," said Williams coach Pat Manning on her team's fast start. "Last year they beat us in their gym, so we really wanted to get this win. And Conn.'s a good team, a really solid team, and we knew we had our work cut out for us. I was really happy with how we came out, the energy out there."
The early outburst compelled Camel coach Brian Wilson to call a timeout to attempt to settle his squad down and slow the pace of the game. Immediately following the timeout, Aly Boyle drove up the lane before sending a nice bounce pass into the corner for Jocelyn Summers, who earned the Camels' first three points in one fell swoop.
However, the frenetic and at times feverishly uptempo Williams defense stiffened immediately after that play and held the Camels without a field goal for nearly ten full minutes. Baecher and Rainer led the way with dual strong efforts in the paint; overall, the pair combined for 12 defensive rebounds, four blocks and three turnovers.
That was more than enough time for the Eph offensive attack to get rolling, as a pull-up jumper from Macdonald, a tenacious drive by Oge Uwanaka on her first trip up the court and a pair of three-point plays from Grace Rehnquist (including one of her trademark long three-pointers) left the Ephs leading by 14 with just 12 minutes elapsed in the first half.
Briefly, the Camels responded. After Tara Gabelman, who led the Camels with 12 points, broke the field goal drought with a layup, Kayleen Murray hit consecutive jumpers from in front of and behind the arc to whittle the deficit to nine.
But the Ephs refused to back down and soon began to stretch their advantage once more. A corner three-pointer from Ellen Cook restored the advantage to 14, which became 15 just before the half when Jennie Harding pounced on a perimeter pass, drove the length of the court and made one of two free throws to give the Ephs a 36-21 lead heading into the break.
That margin rapidly ballooned from almost the moment the two teams stepped back out onto the court, as the Ephs began the half on a 9-0 run that all but sealed the final outcome. Baecher and Rainer once again proved to be the difference, this time on offense; the highlight of the run came when a streaking Rainer dribbled straight up the gut to create a two-on-one down low with Baecher, who made the layup and drew the foul for an eventual three-point play.
"Those two work so well together," commented Manning on the dynamic duo's work together. "Some of the passes that Danny made to Claire and vice-versa were awesome. It was fun to watch."
Baecher led all scorers on the evening with 15 points, while Rehnquist (14) Macdonald (13, a season high) and Rainer (10) all cracked double digits for the Ephs (Cook nearly joined the group but fell just short with nine points), a distribution that left Manning immensely pleased.
"We wanted to have an inside-outside attack and be more balanced. And we were," said Manning matter-of-factly. "We're getting much better every game. It was a great balanced game, where we shared the ball and hit the open shot."
The Ephs will now begin a four-game road trip that will first take them to Plattsburgh State for a nonconference game on Tuesday evening at 7:00 p.m. Meanwhile, the Camels will continue their own five-game away set when they head to Bates to take on the Bobcats next Friday, with tipoff scheduled for 8:00 p.m.
