WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – In their first rematch of the season, the Williams Ephs (7-9, 2-2 NESCAC, 0-1 Little Three) fell to the Amherst Mammoths (10-1, 2-1 NESCAC, 2-0 Little Three), 73-59, despite leading for the majority of the first half.
On January 8
th, the Mammoths won the NESCAC matchup at Amherst 72-54 after taking a dominant 21-5 lead at the end of the first quarter. Though today's Little Three game was not as lopsided early on – the Ephs led 23-15 at one point in the second quarter – the Mammoths went on a 17-0 run and did not surrender the lead for the rest of the game. Still, Williams fought until the very end, outscoring Amherst 21-14 in the fourth quarter.
"I'm proud of our fight," remarked Eph head coach
Pat Manning on the team's sustained effort despite trailing by double digits for most of the second half. "We could've hung our heads, but we didn't, and we kept going for the whole time."
Despite only playing half of the game due to injury, Amherst guard AnLing Vera finished second on the Mammoths with 15 points and shot a perfect 5 for 5 from downtown. Forward Dani Valdez (20p, 6r) successfully attacked the Ephs' defense with several timely jump shots, and guard Lauren Pelosi (14p, 10r) notched a double-double.
Eph guard
Maggie Meehan '22 (22p, 3a, 3s) scored her highest point total since November on 8 for 14 (57.1%) shooting. Forward
Arianna Gerig (17p, 7r) kept Williams in the game early, especially from the line. The rest of the Ephs, however, combined for just 20 points on 9 for 36 (25.0%) shooting.
"I'm really proud of Maggie," said Manning. "She fought the entire time and got it done on both ends of the floor. Our fight in the fourth quarter is a credit to Maggie and how much she wanted this."
Both teams started off cold on offense. The score was just 2-2 until 4:57 remained in the first quarter, when Gerig – who scored nine points and went a perfect 5 for 5 from the free-throw line in the first quarter alone – finally made the first field goal of the game and drew a foul. After Gerig hit the free throw to complete the three-point play, both teams heated up from the field. Though Williams led 15-10 in the waning seconds, Vera hit a fade-away, buzzer-beating three off the backboard to make it a two-point game at the end of the quarter.
While Gerig shouldered the load for the Ephs' offense in the first quarter, Meehan shined in the second, scoring nine points of her own and staking Williams out to its largest lead of the game at 23-15 on a three-pointer. But Amherst responded with a dominant 17-0 run, featuring two emphatic deep three-pointers by Vera. Though McBarron finally broke the Ephs' scoring drought with a layup, the Mammoths responded with a jumper by Valdez and yet another deep three-pointer from Vera to give Amherst a 12-point lead. However, Vera suffered an ankle injury on the shot attempt and missed the rest of the game. Meehan and Valdez each hit jumpers before the half to make it 39-27 at halftime.
Amherst continued to extend their lead in the third quarter, starting with a layup by Dani Valdez followed by a three by Pelosi. Though the Ephs fought back with makes by Meehan and Mandyck, the Mammoths ended the quarter on a 9-2 run and finished it with a 21-point lead. But the deficit didn't deter the Ephs from fighting until the very end, and with under two minutes to go, Williams narrowed the Amherst lead to just 11.
The Mammoths did most of their damage outside, as the Ephs actually outscored them 22-16 in the paint. Though they did turn the ball over 19 times, Amherst shot an efficient 26 for 56 (46.4%) from the field, including an impressive 9 for 16 (56.3%) mark from beyond the arc. The Mammoths outrebounded the Ephs 43-32, though the Ephs did earn a slight 16-15 edge in offensive boards.
"Their shooting in the second and third quarters, it seemed like everything they touched went in," admitted Manning. "The threes that they hit really hurt us."
Manning cited shot selection as one of the biggest areas for improvement going forward. "We focused on spreading the floor and not taking shots in no-man's land, but we still did that. We really didn't stretch them out enough, and we didn't establish much of a rhythm or an inside game. We were predictable on offense because we kept putting the ball on the floor."
This Saturday at 2:00pm, the Ephs will continue their NESCAC portion of the schedule with a road matchup against Middlebury (7-7, 1-1 NESCAC).
