Box Score Williamstown, MA- The Williams College women's basketball team improved to 7-0 today with their 65-54 win over the Smith College Pioneers in their last home game of 2015. In a game that featured extended runs and scoring droughts from both teams, the Ephs were able to play the most consistent basketball. Aiding this consistency was the fact that four of the Williams starters scored in double figures, with the front court pair of Katie Litman and Oge Uwanaka leading the way with 14 points each. Smith (2-5) made all the little plays to help their cause, recording more steals than Williams and owning the distinction of being the only team so far this season that has outrebounded the Ephs. The Pioneers put together runs when it looked like Williams was pulling away, but their efforts fell just short.
Williams junior Lauren McCall, another one of the Ephs in double figures with 13 points on the night, got things started when her three pointer from the right wing opened the scoring. McCall hit another three pointer two minutes later to put Williams up by ten, then Litman finished two layups to complete a 14-0 run for the Ephs to start the game. Williams was then held to only four points for the remaining six and a half minutes of the quarter, a testament to the relentless defensive pressure from the Pioneers that led to 8 Eph turnovers in the period. The turnovers were a big reason why Smith was only down by eight after the first quarter, shooting only 20% from the field during the first ten minutes of action. Williams head coach Pat Manning lauded the tenacity of the Pioneers, saying, "They just keep coming at you. We would go on runs, but they would never give up and really worked to fight back. Credit to them."
That tenacity would remain a theme throughout the game, but the task set before the Pioneers kept increasing in difficulty. Smith failed to find their rhythm on the offensive end in the second quarter, and Williams capitalized by extending the lead that they had built in the first. Junior Devon Caveney, Williams' leading scorer on the season, contributed five of her ten points to the cause in the second quarter. Cutting down on the turnovers led to more scoring chances for Williams, however failure to convert on several open looks close to the hoop limited the Williams lead to 12 at halftime.
That lead quickly grew to 19 after Williams opened the second half on a 7-0 run, capped off by a three pointer from sophomore point guard Ammani Fernandez, who spent most of the night setting up her teammates, recording a game high nine assists. Smith would not go away, thanks to the individual efforts of sophomore Paige Marquez. Marquez scored nine points on 4-6 shooting in the quarter, helping her team come all the way back from a 19 point deficit to only be down six at the end of the quarter. The Pioneers also got precious help from their bench, which outscored the Williams reserves 20-6 in the game.
The lead was trimmed to four when sophomore Amanda Barriscale converted on a layup attempt. The newfound sense of urgency awoke the Ephs, who responded with sharpshooting from outside with Caveney, McCall, and Fernandez all connecting on three point attempts. McCall added two more midrange jump shots as part of a 19-12 finishing stretch to help seal the win for her team.
Despite being outrebounded for the first time this season, Manning was in high spirits after the game, saying, "Overall it was a solid night, I thought we had a lot of players come up big for us. Katie [Litman] did a great job defensively in the paint while also giving us the valuable points and rebounds that we're used to seeing." Up next for Williams will be a meeting with Wesleyan (6-1) in the match-up that will help determine Little Three standings at the end of the year. Despite the game not counting in conference play, it will be the first time this season that Williams will face a conference opponent. About the Cardinals, Manning said, "This will be another good test for us. Wesleyan has a good team with some good depth, it'll be a nice test to face them on the road in a NESCAC gym."
"It'll be fun."
That game will tip off on Saturday at 1:00 PM in Middletown, Connecticut. On the same day, Smith will return home to play their next game against Westfield State at 2:00 PM.
