Middlebury, VT.— Middlebury (11-7, 3-2 NESCAC) seemed set to win in the fourth, but with a clutch three,
Maddy Mandyck sent the game into overtime. In the next five minutes, Williams (13-6, 4-1 NESCAC) kept Middlebury to just two points and scored eight of their own to ice the game.
With nine left in the fourth quarter, Williams seemed to have momentum on their side, holding a five point lead after scoring four quick points. Undeterred, Middlebury picked up their pace, and led by a seven point effort from Gabby Stuart, went up for the first time all game.
Suddenly the Ephs found themselves on their heels, as the Panthers now had a five point lead of their own. Ryann Taylor shaved the first two points off with a floater near the block. The Panthers continued to attack but couldn't get their layups or jumpers to fall. Then, with twenty six seconds on the clock, Maddy Mandyck was left with space on the three point arc. She pulled up and sank her shot to tie up the game.
Going into overtime, the Ephs seemed to have settled. The first bucket of the period came after Ryann Taylor sent the ball to Mia Holtze, who had sealed her defender for the easy layup. Two Panthers made a free throw apiece to tie up the game.
Eph head coach Pat Manning called a timeout after a rebound to advance the ball, and when the possession started, Arianna Gerig flew down the middle, finishing an and-one layup. Her free throw was her ninth attempt of the afternoon from the stripe and her ninth make.
The Ephs were locked in defensively for the last minute of play— Middlebury wouldn't score again and the game ended 56-50.
Williams started the afternoon hot, getting a steal on Middlebury's first possession and scoring on the other end with a floater. Kate Keenan, in her first start of the season, got the Ephs fired up with back-to-back threes. Middlebury scored a couple of layups to keep up with the Ephs, but by the middle of the quarter both teams had cooled off as defense picked up.
In the second quarter, both teams shot above 50% as tempo picked up. Maddy Mandyck scored eight of the Ephs' 19 second quarter points, complemented by buckets from Arianna Gerig, Mia Holtze, and Kate Keenan. Keenan's two jumpers in the period gave her four more points and a career high of ten points.
Scoring slowed down for the Ephs in the third quarter, as they only scored six points on fifteen looks. Still, the Panthers didn't do much better, only making four shots in the quarter. The difference may have been paint presence, as the third was the only quarter that the Panthers won the rebounding battle, and eight of their points in the period came from attempts in the paint.
Though the Ephs pushed forward to begin the fourth quarter, the Panthers would find a new energy and go on a 12-2 run from 7:12 to 2:57. Despite Middlebury's amplified energy, their last field goal would come at 5:00 as momentum began to return to Williams.
The Ephs had the reins in overtime, and fought hard for the last five minutes to secure the win. Both Maddy Mandyck and Arianna Gerig ended the game with double-doubles— Mandyck had 11 points and 17 boards, and Gerig had 18 points and 12 boards (a new career high in rebounds).
Eph head coach Pat Manning expressed her pride in the overtime win following the game. "This one really was a team win. Middlebury has a lot of dangerous scorers, including the top scorer in the conference." (Alexa Mustafaj) "I thought it was really key that we were able to get this one in overtime."
Coach Manning gave credit to Gerig, saying "Ari had the composure when we were running that sideline play to come in and finish and get the and-one. Also to go nine for nine from the free throw line— that's unbelievable." Manning also pointed out Mandyck's growth. "Maddy had a little bit of an off shooting night, but she still got a double-double and hit that big shot. That's an area of growth that Maddy added to her game this year, a top-of-the-key three and threes in general. She didn't hesitate to take that shot."
"I just want to give a lot of credit to Kate Keenan," said Manning of the sophomore guard, who got her first start this afternoon. "She played the entire time without turning the ball over. Kate has the confidence— she's a great shooter. It was only a matter of time. I thought this morning that Kate was due to go off a bit and have a big game. In practice she plays great every day, and she's such a coachable kid. [This afternoon] she commanded the floor and I'm just really proud of her effort."
To wrap things up, Manning touched on a few areas of improvement for the team. "I'm really happy with our rebounding effort. We've won the rebounding for the last several games, but we still gave up too many O-boards. I still want to focus on that. Sometimes we don't rebound as well from the weak side. That'll be our emphasis, and again, smooth offense. Everybody in NESCAC plays really good D, so we have to be able to score against good D. We have to be smooth in our execution."
The Ephs will play again next Friday at 7PM, vs. Tufts in Medford, Mass.
