Box Score WILLIAMSTOWN, MA- Devon Caveney made two key free throws with 25 seconds left in the fourth quarter to clinch Williams' 52-47 win over Babson.
Williams continues its hot start at 2-0, while Babson drops to 2-2.
Eph head coach Pat Manning was proud of her team today, saying, "Our rebounding really picked up and we came up with some key steals and deflections."
Neither team shot well to begin the game, but Williams took the early advantage off the strength of threes from Caveney, Lauren McCall, and Ammani Fernandez, giving the Ephs a 16-10 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
The cold shooting continued in the second quarter, but Babson's Taylor Russell heated up, scoring nine of the Beavers' 13 second quarter points to cut Williams' lead to just two, 25-23, heading into the half.
Babson continued to have the edge during the third quarter, as another upperclassman, this time Giovanna Pickering, caught fire, scoring 10 points to turn a 31-25 deficit into a 36-35 lead heading into the pivotal fourth quarter, while Williams' chances continued to be plagued by their continued cold shooting.
After Pickering opened the fourth quarter with a jumper to push Babson's lead to three, Williams immediately responded with seven unanswered points, culminating with a made three from Ammani Fernandez to give the Ephs their largest lead of the game, 44-38, with 5:43 remaining. Williams and Babson then traded four point swings, and Williams emerged again with a 48-42 lead with 3:45 left in the fourth quarter.
A key possession occurred with just under two minutes left, when Giovanna Pickering stole the ball from Lauren Vostal and ran down the court uncontested. Out of nowhere, when Pickering rose up for a layup attempt, Vostal smacked the ball out of her hands and out of bounds, preventing the layup attempt. Marissa Cichetti's three-pointer cut Williams' lead to two with 29 seconds left, but the Ephs were able to hold on for their second win of the season by mking their last three foul shots; one by Kaite Litman and two by Devon Caveney.
Giovanna Pickering led Babson with 18 points, while Lauren McCall and Ammani Fernandez each tallied 11 for the Ephs. Katie Litman's game-high 13 rebounds gave the Ephs a 45-39 advantage on the glass for the day.
Both teams shot 33.9% from the floor with Babson connecting on 21 of 62 field goal attempts, while Williams made 20 of 59 shots from the field.
Coach Manning did recognize that there's room for improvement, saying, "We didn't move the ball well, we took some good shots that didn't fall...zome days you have good offense and some days you don't."
Babson plays at Mount Holyoke next Sunday at 3 P.M, while Williams is at Springfield on Tuesday afternoon at 4:30.
