Williamstown, MASS.— The score was 16-4 Trinity (19-2, 6-1 NESCAC) at the end of the first quarter, but the Ephs refused to give up. Williams (15-7, 6-2 NESCAC) caught up bucket by bucket, and in the fourth they struck. Led by a 13-point quarter for
Arianna Gerig, the Ephs took the lead at 6:17 and kept it for the remainder of the game to come out on top over the #11 Bantams.
After three quarters of play, the score was 29-24 in favor of Trinity. The Ephs had the game's momentum, though, after taking the last two quarters on the strength of their defense. Trinity had tried to match the Ephs' defense with physicality, and the fouls had racked up— Williams scored 5 from the line in both the 2nd and 3rd quarters. In the 4th, the story was no different.
Maddy Mandyck scored the first point of the quarter from the stripe, and in total the Ephs would get 14 points from the free throw line as they continued to attack the paint. A three from Devin Biesbrock followed up Mandyck's shot, putting the Ephs just one away for the first time all game.
The Ephs had the lead within their grasp, and eight consecutive points for Arianna Gerig gave it to them. Biesbrock splashed another three to make the deficit a comfortable five points, and after Trinity scoring broke the Williams run, Gerig responded with a three of her own.
The Bantams— who were 19-1 before tonight's game— kept calm, pushing back at the Ephs with scoring of their own. A three-pointer with 13 seconds left put them within three. They fouled immediately on the inbounds, and missed bonus shots gave them a chance to tie the game. The Ephs played smart. While Trinity did score, it was just two instead of the three they needed, and the game ended 49-48.
It would have been almost impossible to predict the game's result after watching just the first quarter. Both teams struggled to get going. While Trinity scored the first points of the game with a floater in the paint, they wouldn't score again until 6:25. However, something seemed to click with their second bucket and they relaxed into their offense, widening the gap to 10-0 before the Ephs scored a single point.
Mia Holtze broke the drought with a layup on the baseline drive, and Devin Biesbrock added two more points for the Ephs at the free throw line. The Bantams maintained their offensive intensity, scoring six more to end the quarter with a 16-4 lead.
Despite the rough first quarter, the Ephs found a new defensive gear in the second quarter. Consistent effort brought Trinity shooting percentage from 46% in the first quarter to just 8% in the second. Williams pulled down more rebounds and got to the line more than Trinity in the quarter, grabbing 14 boards to the Bantams' 10 and taking 6 more foul shots. However, field goals remained elusive for the Ephs— they only scored from the floor twice in the quarter.
In the third quarter, scoring ground to a halt for the first three 3:05 of play. The first basket was made by Holtze as she sank the Ephs' second three-pointer of the game. Biesbrock and Mandyck added points from the stripe, while Cortland McBarron fueled the team's fire with a layup and made free throw through contact.
Trinity's leading scorer Reilly Campbell put up six of the Bantams' eight in the third quarter. By the end of the game she had racked up a 19 point, 13 rebound double-double. She even scored Trinity's last two— putting them within one— but it wasn't enough. Williams took the lead and held it fast in the final quarter of play. The Ephs' determination came out on top, and gave them the win tonight.
Even Eph head coach Pat Manning was a little surprised about the game's outcome, given the team's first quarter struggles. "Who would've thought? she asked. "In the first quarter we were down 16-4. We came out flat and just not ourselves. But the second quarter was a turning point. We held them to five— we weren't shooting well but our defense was keeping us in the game. Ari came up big for us in the second half, on both ends. She had a huge assignment in the second half, not only did she score but she had to stop their top scorer. Everybody did their job, and it was just such a huge win."
Coach Manning thought that the last thirty minutes of the game may have been the best the team's played all year, saying: "Trinity's a good team, as everybody knows. They're a very talented team, and I just think we have been so close so many times to ranked teams. But to actually get one, my players deserve all the credit. They just stuck with it, and nobody panicked when things weren't going our way. I'm so proud of them and their effort."
The Ephs have had close battles against nationally ranked teams in the past, taking games against Amherst, Babson, and Smith right to the final few minutes of play, but today they emerged victorious.
"I just think we've grown as a team," Manning said regarding what pushed the Ephs over the top. "I just think people have matured— we've been playing really well and we know we can win. I think what happened in the past was if we were in close games, it was like, 'oh, we're not sure if we're supposed to beat this team…' But today, we knew we could win, and it was just a different mindset."
Tonight's win puts the Ephs in good position for the NESCAC playoffs, but Manning said that "we're not even thinking about that. All we're thinking about is Wesleyan tomorrow. I think that's the maturity of my team— we know it's two games. You can't get too high or too low with Friday, so we just have to get back to work and get ready to go tomorrow against Wesleyan."
Tomorrow's game against Wesleyan is the Ephs' senior day, and coach Manning encouraged Williams fans to come out and cheer on the team against their Little Three rival. The match will take place at 3PM in Chandler Gym.
