Box Score Amherst, MA- The Williams College women's basketball team went on the road tonight to face rival Amherst College in a match-up that the Ephs would ultimately lose by a score of 66-54. Williams (13-5/3-3 NESCAC) showed significant improvement against an Amherst team that three weeks ago beat them by 36 points in Chandler Gymnasium. The Eph's out-shot Amherst from the field (36.5%/ 32.8%) as well as from three point range (55.6%/33.3%) and nearly matched them in rebounding. Amherst (19-0/5-0 NESCAC) made up for their below average night on the offensive end by forcing the Ephs into 25 turnovers, which led to 22 points on the other end.
Amherst jumped out to an early lead when junior Ali Doswell nailed a three pointer at the 8:37 mark in the first quarter, giving Amherst an advantage that they would not relinquish for the rest of the contest. Doswell made a habit of knocking down shots from long range, hitting two more in the first quarter and five in the game as part of her team high 27 points to go along with 13 rebounds. Doswell also helped set the tone defensively, recording two of Amherst's six first quarter steals that helped them build a 24-10 lead after the first ten minutes. Williams senior captain Katie Litman did her best to keep a Williams spark alive in the first, leading her team with four points and two blocks in the quarter.
Although Amherst dominated play through the first ten minutes, it was the Ephs that would go on to win the rest of the game, starting with the second quarter. One of the main reasons Williams was able to keep pace with Amherst over the last 30 minutes was the performance of sophomore Ammani Fernandez, who now leads her team in field goal percentage, points per game, and assists per game. Fernandez also leads the NESCAC in three point percentage at 52.7%, showing why by hitting all three of her attempts from behind the arc in the second quarter of tonight's game. Those baskets totaled nine of Fernandez's 12 points in the second quarter and greatly helped Williams outscore Amherst 16-15 in the period to end the half down by 13 points.
Williams kept inching their way back in the third quarter, once again led by 11 points from Fernandez on the offensive end. According to Williams head coach Pat Manning, while an improved offensive effort certainly kept the Ephs competitive, it was their defense that allowed them to win the final 30 minutes of the game. Manning said, "We did a really good job in the half court set on defense in forcing them into attempting some tougher shots, it was pretty clear that we have come a long way in our defensive execution." Manning cited the play of senior captain Oge Uwanaka, who leads the team in steals and blocks per game, as a huge reason why the Ephs held Amherst to 16 fewer points this time around and kept them below their season average in points per game. Still, Amherst was able to maintain their double digit lead throughout the third quarter thanks to two more threes and ten more points from Ali Doswell.
Defense won on both sides of the floor in the fourth quarter, with each team adding only nine more points to their total before the final buzzer sounded. Seven of Amherst's final nine points were free-throws, and five of those free throws were made by junior Jaimie Renner, who recorded 13 points and seven steals in the game. Renner, Doswell, and Fernandez played all 40 minutes of the contest for their respective teams. Williams could not find a late run to bring themselves within striking distance, shooting only 4-16 in the fourth quarter while committing six more turnovers.
Coach Manning, while pleased to see improvements from her team, noted that there is still work to be done, saying, "We did a great job for thirty minutes tonight, but we're going to have to start putting together full forty minute efforts. We got off to a slow start, and against a very talented team like Amherst that's hard to come back from. It's the little things that we'll have to clean up like taking care of the ball, but overall I saw improved defense and rebounding tonight which is a good sign."
Williams will now take a break from playing NESCAC teams for the next two games, traveling to Bridgewater State on Saturday and Westfield State on Monday before closing with four more crucial NESCAC games. Those four games will determine where Williams will be seeded for the NESCAC tournament. Currently sitting at 3-3 in conference and sixth in the NESCAC standings, each one of those four games will be critical to the outcome of the 2015-16 season for the Ephs.
