WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS.— The Williams College Ephs (8-8, 1-2, NESCAC) secured their first NESCAC win defeating the Colby College Mules (9-5, 1-1, NESCAC) 80-73 today.
In an explosive first half for the Ephs, they outscored Colby 47-28 as their defense had a strong showing and their shooting was on point. Colby's offense in the 3
rd quarter started quick and hard, going on a 14-point run which was broken up by junior
Arianna Gerig. Gerig finished out the day with 26 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. Sophomore
Logan Coster went 7-8 on her field goal percentage with 2 threes and 19 points.
In the first quarter, the Ephs shots floated into the basket and their defense and rebounds led them to a 10-point lead. In their first possession, first-year
Mairi Smith passed over the defense to forward
Arianna Gerig who dribbled once in the key and turned to put it up for 2. Guard
Tatum Leuenberger stole the ball and passed it down court to junior
Arianna Gerig. On the fast break, Gerig scored the layup on a drive, was fouled, and scored the free throw to bring the Ephs lead to 17-9. Jumping up, free of her defender, sophomore
Logan Coster floated on from the top of the key for 2, ending the quarter 19-11 Ephs leading.
In the 2
nd quarter, to make the game 32-14, it was a fast-break, rebounded by
Tatum Leuenberger, pass to
Ellie Tounkara, pass to
Cortland McBarron, spin-move, pass to
Mairi Smith on the baseline, and put up for 2 by the Ephs. On the turn-around,
Arianna Gerig performed a not-today block on a Mule's 3-pointer attempt and took the knockdown across the court; she was fouled on the layup and scored both free throws.
Cortland McBarron drove in, and passed the ball out to
Logan Coster. She passed but one of the Colby players knocked to the ball to
Ellie Tounkara. Tounkara went back to Coster; Coster jumped up and put away a clean 3 for the Ephs to make it 33-16. Junior guard
Ellie Tounkara brings the Ephs to an 18-point lead with a 3-point play. On a roll, guard
Logan Coster blocked a layup; the Ephs went on a fast break, Tounkara to Coster, to McBarron who put it up for 2. On the last Eph's scoring attempt of the half, junior Cortland Mcbarron saved the ball from going out on offense and
Logan Coster recovered it to take it in for 2 and 1. The Ephs ended the 2
nd explosively with a 19-point lead against Colby 47-28.
Tatum Leuenberger opened the 3
rd with a 3, but Colby began their long fight in the quarter where they outscored the Ephs 24-14. After a 14-point run that took Colby behind from 52-31 to 52-45,
Arianna Gerig made a layup to break their run and make the game 54-45. Later on in the last 2 minutes of the quarter,
Logan Coster went on a run for the Ephs, scoring 2 free throws, assisting
Cortland McBarron for a 2, and scoring the last basket of the quarter from the top of the key. The Ephs ended the quarter leading 63-52.
Junior
Ellie Tounkara dribbled into the key against 3 defenders; she faked a pass right, their eyes followed, and she followed through the basket for a sure 2, scoring the first Eph points of the 4
th quarter to being their lead up to 65-54. Guard
Cortland McBarron found an open
Logan Coster; she drained the 3 and gave the Ephs another 9-point lead over Colby at 69-60.
Mairi Smith set the screen for
Arianna Gerig, and peeled off; Gerig passed to Smith and she scored from the free throw line. Gerig brought the ball under the basket, and out from the right side,
Cortland McBarron cut across the key, putting the ball up quickly for a 2. The game ended on Colby making fouls to try and gain possession of the ball; but the Ephs held true with their free throws and won 80-73.
Eph head coach
Pat Manning said, "This was a big game for us. We played a tremendous first half, and it had great energy and our defense was really good. We knew at half-time that Colby had a run in them. They are a very good team and they can be explosive. We knew we were going to have to weather the storm in the 2
nd half a little bit, and that's exactly what happened. I was happy with our composure. They kept coming at us and coming at us.
Logan Coster was a major presence off the bench, 7 for 8, hitting 2 threes. It was a great game by her. I thought
Tatum Leuenberger stood out took.
Arianna Gerig had another great showing too.
Cortland McBarron with 11.7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals, she does the little things well and had a core performance for us today." She went on to say, "I was happy to see our performance from the free throw line. We can be really up and down from there. It was really key going 16 for 19 today from there. Overall, I thought it was a great performance by our bench and it was some of the best team defense that we've played."
The Ephs will remain at home for a stretch of league games. Their next is against No. 15 Bowdoin College tomorrow at 3pm in Chandler Gymnasium.
