Box Score
Northampton, MA- The Williams College women's basketball team went on the road for the first time of the season today to face the 3-0 Smith College Pioneers in Ainsworth Gymnasium. Williams escaped Northampton with a 44-40 victory, handing Smith their first loss of the season while improving their own winning streak to three games, bringing their record to 3-1. First year Emily Chang led Williams in scoring with 11 points off the bench. The Pioneers got 14 points from sophomore Erin Hanley but only 5 points from their leading scorer, sophomore Kennedy Guest-Pritchett, who went 0-16 from the field in the game.
Smith did all the little things right on their way to establishing a 29-20 lead when the teams went into their respective locker rooms for halftime. The hustle that the Pioneers displayed on both ends of the floor allowed them to hold a 21-13 edge in rebounds through the first two quarters, which included 9 offensive rebounds. In addition to rebounding, the Pioneers were 8-10 from the free throw line in the first half, while Williams attempted and made just one free throw during the first 20 minutes.
Williams has struggled on the offensive end in the infancy of their season, and that trend continued during the first half against the Pioneers. After two easy baskets from senior Lauren McCall early in the first quarter, the Ephs then went through an eight minute scoring drought. During that time Smith was able to build a 16-4 lead, quickly turning their stout defense into points at the other end. Williams added four more points before the end of the quarter to cut the Smith lead down to 8.
The hustle that made the difference for the Pioneers found its greatest embodiment in Hanley just as it looked like Williams was about to get back in the game late in the second quarter. After junior Lydia Zaleski made a layup to trim the lead to 7, the Eph defense forced a missed field goal attempt that was scooped up Hanley, who put up a shot of her own that hit paydirt. It was deja vu a minute later when Williams again made the lead 7 before Hanley grabbed another offensive board and earned two points at the free throw line that gave her team the 9 point halftime lead.
Williams stormed out of the gates in the second half behind their up and coming underclassmen, cutting the Smith lead to just 1 during the first five minutes. First year Emily Peckham kicked things off with a shot-clock beating layup. Peckham made a huge impact off the bench, playing 32 minutes in which she brought down eight rebounds and played solid defense. This play was followed by a high arcing three from sophomore Lexi Jones and an old-fashioned three point play from Chang.
Both offenses stagnated as the game entered its final quarter, but Williams was able to find important baskets when they needed it. Guest-Pritchett scored the first of only three Pioneer points in the fourth quarter when she hit a free throw to put her team ahead 38-32 with 6:33 left to play. Chang and McCall then both knocked down jump shots before Guest-Pritchett converted two more attempts from the foul line. Down four with 4:17 to play, McCall knocked down a clutch three-pointer from the top of the key to put the score at 40-39. The game went without scoring for the next four minutes until Chang buried a three pointer from well beyond the arc that gave Williams its first lead since two minutes into the first quarter. A defensive stop and two free throws from senior Devon Caveney sealed the deal for the Ephs.
Williams head coach Pat Manning had nothing but praise for her freshman, saying, "What's so fun about coaching them is that you see improvement every day. They're hard working, confident, and games like this, pulling it out in crunch time, will only help their confidence." Manning likewise praised her team's resilience, saying, "So far this season in the fourth quarter we've struggled, but I thought the fourth quarter was the best part of the game for us today. For us not to lose heart when we got down by so much in our first road game is really promising".
Next up for Williams will be a home matchup with Skidmore College on Tuesday at 7:00 PM.
