NORTH ADAMS, MASS.— Williams (4-1, 0-0, NESCAC) opened up a 21-9 lead in the first quarter and maintained their dominant position throughout the game, defeating Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (2-6, 0-0, MASCAC), 90-43.
The Eph's first quarter began tentatively. Though the first four points of the game were scored by Williams' Maddy Mandyck and Mia Holtze, MCLA's Trailblazers fought to stay in the game, retaliating with a three and a layup of their own. From then on, the teams went bucket for bucket, until everything was tied up at 9-9, with 3:40 to play. Commenting on the slow beginning, head coach Pat Manning said "We were disappointed in our start. We just felt like we didn't come out with the energy we needed."
An offensive rebound from Mandyck shifted the momentum. She zipped a pass into the hands of Priscilla Singleton-Eriyo in the paint, who converted for two with a short jump hook. The Ephs picked up the pace, scoring the remaining twelve points of the quarter. Singleton-Eriyo was key to the run, not only scoring back-to-back layups but playing smothering defense as well, causing a turnover and blocking a Trailblazer layup attempt.
In the second, the Ephs continued to keep up their pace, especially on the defensive end. They were able to keep MCLA to just 13% on their shot attempts while attacking the Trailblazer defense, scoring twelve points from the field with an additional seven from the free throw line.
Sarah Batra would also score her first points as an Eph in the second, pressuring a MCLA fast break to a miss before pulling up for two on the other end. She would go on to score twelve points throughout the game, tying Priscilla Singleton-Eriyo as one of Williams' leading scorers.
After the break, the Ephs tried something different. "We wanted to show a different look in the second half— so that's when we threw out our zone. We were able to run off it and get some good rebounds and score in transition more easily," remarked Coach Manning on Williams' zone defense in the second half.
Williams was able to convert good defense into good offense, going on a 20+ point run while shooting 57%. MCLA fought back in the fourth, led by Kristie Zator, who made all five of her three point attempts in the quarter. In general, the fourth was more evenly matched, but it was too late for the Trailblazers to turn things around, especially as the Ephs took even more efficient shots and shot 77% in the final period.
Following the game, Coach Manning talked about the game's result and about improvements made in the third and fourth quarters. "We moved the ball a lot better in the second half. We were forcing some things in the first half— settling for jumpers when we could've either driven it in or moved the ball a bit better. We did that in the second half and were able to take high percentage shots."
All twelve Ephs who played scored this afternoon, and Coach Manning pointed out that "we had five in double figures," referring to Mandyck, Batra, Singleton-Eriyo, Arianna Gerig, and Brooke Krivickas. Reflecting on the game, Manning said "I'm really happy with our second half execution, we saw players take major steps forward today. We want to take that momentum and just get more interesting."
The team will play their next game this Tuesday at 5:30PM against Skidmore in Saratoga Springs, NY.
