WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – Though they fought until the very end, the Williams Ephs (2-4, 0-0 NESCAC) fell to the Springfield Pride (7-0, 0-0 NEWMAC) in a back-and-forth, 64-59 affair that featured 14 lead changes.
Hanging on to a two-point lead with under two minutes left in the game, Springfield forward Sam Hourihan attempted a three, but the shot glanced off the front of the rim. Guard Rachel Vinton, however, secured the loose ball, went up for the layup, and drew a foul on Eph guard
Devin Biesbrock '23 to extend the Springfield lead to four. Though Vinton missed the ensuing free throw, the Pride's defense held the Ephs scoreless for the rest of the game.
"Springfield's a very experienced team, and I consider them one of the top teams in the region," remarked Eph head coach
Pat Manning following the close defeat. "We were right there with them, and we're getting better every game even though our record might not reflect it."
Each of Springfield's five starters played at least 30 minutes, and the Pride's bench didn't manage a single point. Hourihan, Vinton, and guard Grace Dzindolek combined for 48 of the Pride's 64 points, and guard Sidney Wentland led both teams with 14 rebounds. Guard
Maggie Meehan '22 enjoyed a strong second half and led the Ephs with 15 points, while forward
Arianna Gerig notched a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Both offenses struggled early, with each team shooting less than 30% from the field and the two teams combining for just 51 points. Though the Pride finished the first quarter on a 5-0 run to take a 14-9 lead, the Ephs responded by opening the second quarter on a 9-0 run of their own, holding Springfield without a basket for the first 4:32 of the quarter.
Especially in the second quarter, the Eph defense forced the Pride to shoot outside, and they struggled to hit their shots, especially from deep. Springfield didn't make a three-pointer until guard Rachel Vinton hit one with 4:36 to go in the second quarter. On offense, Williams found more success driving inside, scoring eight points in the paint as opposed to just two in the first quarter. The Ephs finished the half with a narrow 26-25 lead.
In the first half, Gerig and guard
Ryann Taylor '25 co-led the Ephs with 7 points each, and forward
Maddy Mandyck secured a team-high eight rebounds. Dzindolet paced the Pride with eight points in the half.
The Pride's offense finally got into a rhythm in the third quarter, scoring 24 points – one less than they managed in the entire first half. Down one with just over three minutes in the half, Dzindolet made a three-pointer and Vinton converted a three-point play to give the Pride a five-point lead. After Eph guard
Brooke Krivickas made both free throws following a shooting foul, Dzindolet hit another triple to give Springfield their biggest lead of the game, at six points. The Pride finished the third quarter up four, at 49-45 despite the efforts of Meehan, who caught fire and scored eight points in the quarter.
"Maggie is our leader," said Manning when asked about Meehan's standout game. "She puts it all out on the floor, and I was really happy with her play."
The Ephs started the fourth quarter with two free throws by Meehan and a three-pointer by guard
Devin Biesbrock '23 that gave the Ephs a 50-49 lead. But after a Springfield timeout, Hourihan struck back with a jumper from the elbow that gave Springfield a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Another three-pointer by Hourihan later in the quarter extended Springfield's lead to seven, but Gerig scored five straight points and narrowed the deficit to two. The Ephs, however, didn't score in the final 3:56, despite holding the Pride to three points in the same time frame.
"We just couldn't finish around the rim," said Manning on the Ephs' struggles on offense late in the fourth quarter. "We had the shots that we wanted, but they just didn't fall."
Though the rebounding margin was an even 27-27 at the half, the Pride enjoyed a decisive 23-12 advantage on the boards in the second half, including Vinson's key rebound in the final minutes. The Ephs, however, won the turnover margin 12-8 and went 13 of 17 (76.5%) from the line.
Despite suffering three consecutive close losses by a combined seven points, Manning has still been encouraged by the team's growth against strong competition. "We continue to grow every game, and we're just focused on getting better one game at a time."
The Ephs' next game will take place on Friday, December 3
rd, against Cabrini in the first game of the Shooting Touch Classic.
