Box Score WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – A double-double from Senior Lauren McCall helped guide the Williams College Ephs (2-1) to a 66-46 victory over the Springfield College Pride (1-1). The Ephs closed their three-game home stand to open the season with two wins after dropping their first game of the season.
"We weren't playing at the level we needed to be until today. A lot of credit should go to our captains Devon Caveney and Lauren McCall for getting the team ready. We have a young team and I think nerves got to us a bit the first weekend. Tonight was more like what we had seen all pre-season," said Williams head coach Pat Manning.
After a back-and-forth start to the game, the Ephs quickly found their rhythm and went on a 11-2 run over the final 6:41 of the first quarter to take an early 12-6 lead. Strong defense fueled the balanced attack. Williams forced Springfield to take several shots late in the shot clock in addition to forcing seven turnovers in the quarter. Five different Ephs recorded a steal in the quarter. Perhaps the only worrisome occurrence for Williams was that starting center junior Lydia Zaleski picked up two early fouls. Freshman Emily Peckham stepped in to replace Zaleski despite having played only nine minutes total in the Ephs' first two games.
Williams' offense picked up right where it left off early in the second quarter. Senior Lauren McCall showed off her versatility by scoring on a long jump shot and a post move down low to give the Ephs a comfortable 17-10 lead with 8:03 left in the half. In addition, Peckham proved her worth by picking up two blocks on the defensive end. Two made free throws by junior Kristin Fechtelkotter gave Williams its first double-digit lead, 24-14, with 2:44 remaining in the quarter. Senior guard Devon Caveney and Freshman Emily Chang hit three-pointers on the Ephs' final two possessions of the half to give Williams a 32-17 lead at halftime, their biggest of the game.
McCall led the Ephs with 9 points and 7 rebounds. Caveney also had 9 points. Seven different Ephs recorded points in the first half. As a team, however, Williams' shooting struggles from the weekend continued, going 9 of 24 (37.5%) from the field and 3 of 10 (30%) from three. Springfield also struggled from the field, making just 5 of 21 (23.8%) and failing to connect on any of their five three point tries.
Senior Molly McCausland and freshman Taylor Hall paced the Pride with four points each in the first two quarters. Springfield's lack of offense could be attributed in part to their inability to take care of the ball. They had 11 turnovers in the first half to 6 for Williams.
Coach Manning put Zaleski back on the court to second half. The move paid off as she scored down low on the first possession to extend the lead to 17. Then McCall continued to shine on offense, scoring Williams' next five points, including a three-pointer from the left wing. Any hope the Pride had of cutting into their 15-point halftime deficit was likely dashed by the Ephs' 9-5 run to start the second half.
Despite a comfortable lead, Coach Manning elected to employ a full-court press. Although the press did not force any turnovers, it served the purpose of taking precious time off the shot clock thereby making it difficult for the Pride to settle into their offense. Just as they had done in the second quarter, Williams made threes on their final two possessions of the quarter to open up a 52-25 lead after three quarters. The Ephs outscored the Pride 20-8 in the third.
"Our defense in the first three quarters was excellent. I thought we did a great job of taking away their strengths, namely in the post. I give a lot of credit to Lydia Zaleski, Kristin Fechtelkotter, and Emily Peckham," said Coach Manning.
Springfield couldn't manage to mount any kind of run in the fourth quarter, partly due to the hot outside shooting of freshman Emily Chang, who made three three-pointers in the quarter. Sporting a 25-point lead with just 4 minutes to go, Manning used the opportunity to get other freshman valuable playing time. All five Eph freshmen got into the game. When it was all said and done, Williams walked away with a 66-46 victory, their second in a row.
"Emily Peckham and Emily Chang both had breakout games tonight. Springfield has a strong post game and Emily [Peckham] handled it really well. She did not play like a freshman on either end of the floor," said Coach Manning. "I also thought that Emily Chang was much more composed tonight than over the weekend."
Caveney, McCall, and Chang all scored 16 points to lead the Ephs. McCall also grabbed 12 rebounds. Williams also found its shooting stroke in the second half, finishing the game 9 of 22 (40.9%) from behind the arc.
The same cannot be said for the Pride who finished the game a dismal 1-12 (8.3%) from three. Freshman guard Alex Goslin had 9 points to lead Springfield, while senior Danielle Racette and Freshman Rachel Menze added 7 apiece.
Williams will be back in action on Sunday at Smith College at 3:00 P.M.
