Box Score MIDDLEBURY, VT – With nineteen points from junior captain Kellie MacDonald, Williams Women's Basketball (18-2, 4-2 NESCAC) secured a win over Middlebury College (6-11) by a score of 60-55. This gives Williams their seventh straight win over Middlebury, bringing the all-time series to 32-21 in the Ephs' favor.
With 19 and 12 points respectively, Macdonald and Lauren McCall led in scoring for the Ephs, while Middlebury's Lauren Lowry and Elizabeth Knox had seventeen points each.
Said coach Pat Manning about her junior captain, "It was great to see how well Kellie Macdonald attacked the hoop today, she carried us offensively when we were struggling." Manning also spoke of the composure of freshman McCall, who went 5-8 from the field tonight. With respect to rebounding, Williams' Ellen Cook and Middlebury's Knox each grabbed 10 to lead statistically. Cook would also have a block and four steals.
Middlebury jumped out to an early lead, going up 11-2 with four points from Elizabeth Knox before Williams could respond with a three-pointer from Devon Caveney. Although Williams would battle back to within two points of their competition, Middlebury maintained their lead for the majority of the first half. A six-point run made by Middlebury's Christina Nowak helped them remain on top for the first thirteen minutes of the half, but with a clutch three-pointer by MaryKate O'Brien, Williams remained within three points of the Panthers. Just one minute later, two successive layups by teammate Devon Caveney put Williams even with Middlebury for the first time in fifteen minutes.
The two teams would remain neck and neck for the remaining five minutes of the half, with Williams' Ellen Cook and Middlebury's Knox trading baskets to bring the score to 29-28 in the home team's favor. For Williams, Kellie MacDonald and Caveney would lead in scoring with eight and seven points respectively. Knox and Lowry led for the Panthers, with ten and seven points apiece. Middlebury's Scarlett Kirk would lead in rebounds for both teams, grabbing seven in the first half.
To begin the second half, Lowry and MacDonald traded three-pointers to bring the score to 32-31 in the Panther's favor. MacDonald would go on to score four more points in those first five minutes of play. Neither team would gain greater than a one-point lead until the 15:09 mark, when a jump shot and a layup by MacDonald gave the Ephs their first three-point lead of the game. Williams didn't hold on to that lead for very long, as a strong inside game by Middlebury put them back up on top within the next minute. However, soon thereafter Lauren McCall came up big for the Ephs, scoring ten points in a four-minute span to bring the score to 53-47 in Williams' favor.
Play would remain scoreless for the next four minutes, until a layup by Oge Uwanaka gave the Ephs their widest berth thus far. With just under five minutes to play, Middlebury capitalized at the foul line to remain within six of Williams. However, Williams' composure at the line kept them in the lead. The second half leaders for Williams, MacDonald and McCall, would score eleven and ten points each, while Middlebury only had one player in double-digits, Lowry. When asked about the game, Coach Manning said, "Middlebury is always very aggressive, and they're all very capable defenders. We had to work for this win, and I was very happy to see how certain players stepped up today."
Williams next takes on Bates at home on February 7th at 6 P.M.
