WATERVILLE, ME.— Despite a ferocious effort from Colby (5-8, 1-2 NESCAC) in the fourth, Williams (11-5, 2-1 NESCAC) maintained their cool to get the win, 63-50.
Going into the last quarter, Williams had held a strong lead throughout the game. The lead reached twenty points in the third quarter and had stayed in double digits since the ninth minute of play. However, the Mules surprised the Ephs with an 11-2 run in the fourth, bringing the lead as low as nine by relentlessly attacking the basket.
On the Mules' 4th quarter run, Eph head coach
Pat Manning said: "We had some miscommunication. We weren't talking like we were in the first three quarters, and we missed defensive assignments because of it. Two players would run at the same person, and nobody picked up the ball. Number one, you have to stop the ball, and I think we gave them pretty much uncontested drives at times."
The Ephs would pull forward again to end the game though. "We corrected after timeouts and got it together in the last few minutes," said coach Manning on the game's ending. She commended the seniors
Devin Biesbrock and
Maddy Mandyck for maintaining composure, saying: "I think it was great leadership by Devin and Maddy in crunch time." The two combined for eight of the Ephs' last nine points.
The game started out well for the Ephs, as they outscored the Mules 16-4. Williams' control of the quarter arose on the defensive end, as the Mules were kept to just 13% on their 16 attempts without a single shooting foul. Exploiting bad rotations was key to the Ephs' scoring in the first, and at least nine of the Ephs' points were scored uncontested.
In the second, Colby picked up their level of play, and shooting percentage was around 40% for both teams. The Ephs had a slight edge on rebounds and turnovers, and were able to tally more points than the Mules on account of their higher shooting volume.
Arianna Gerig and
Maddy Mandyck both climbed into double digit scoring before the break.
The third quarter was almost completely even. Though Colby got to the line more often,
Ryann Taylor and
Devin Biesbrock had key threes in the quarter that allowed the Ephs to score one more than the Mules. The third ended with the score at 52-34 Williams.
After a three for Colby, a jumper allowed
Arianna Gerig to score her 17th point of the game, but following the bucket the Ephs wouldn't score for the next three and a half minutes. After a rough series of Mule layups,
Maddy Mandyck stemmed the bleeding with a pair of clutch jumpers.
Devin Biesbrock iced the game with a layup— though the Mules never caved and used timeouts strategically to give themselves a shot. In the end, the score was 63-50 Williams.
Following the game, Coach Manning said: "Momentum shifted a little bit and we kept our cool. Maddy came up with some key shots for us— another double-double for Maddy— and Arianna shot very well. Devin hit a couple key threes. She played 35 minutes and [committed] no turnovers, she just took care of the ball."
Manning recognized Colby's tenaciousness, saying: "I give Colby a lot of credit because they don't quit. They were down at Wesleyan last weekend by double digits and came back and won the game. They come after you, and compete for 40 minutes."
She also noted the Ephs' strengths. "[Colby] threw a press out at us, and I do think we did a good job taking care of the ball. I really credit Maddy and Devin for handling that pressure. Ryann had some key shots in the second half. Offensively we did good things— we shared the ball."
On adjustments for the rest of conference play, Coach Manning said: "Every team we play in NESCAC comes for a full 40 and just goes after you. It wasn't that we weren't playing hard because we were, but we weren't playing team D."
For their next match, the Ephs will play against #25 Bowdoin tomorrow afternoon (3PM) in Brunswick, ME.
