WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS. – The Williams College Ephs (9-10, 1-4, NESCAC) fall to the Middlebury College Panthers (12-6, 4-1, NESCAC) 84-43.
The Panthers outscored the Ephs in the 3 quarters after the 1
st. The Ephs as a team distinctively blocked 9 shots. First-year guard
Tatum Leuenberger scored 16 points with 9 rebounds and 4 blocks. Junior
Arianna Gerig scored 18 points going 6 for 7 on free throws with 2 blocks.
In the 1
st quarter, guard
Tatum Leuenberger with 6 seconds left on the shot clock and scores a jumper from the right side of the baseline to give the Ephs the lead 7-6, junior
Arianna Gerig dribbled into the key and found sophomore
Sarah Batra on the outside. Batra passed it back up the arc to first-year
Tatum Leuenberger who sunk the 3. On the following play,
Tatum Leuenberger denied a shot by a Panther. On an Eph fast-break,
Ellie Tounkara passed to
Arianna Gerig, Gerig drove into the key and quickly passed to
Sarah Batra, Batra floated the ball in for a sure 2.
Passed in from forward
Sarah Batra,
Arianna Gerig dribbled once in the key to push her defender back, she scored the basket from underneath, and drained the and one from being fouled, giving the Ephs the lead 13-11. First-year forward
Mairi Smith converted a layup that danced around the rim before dropping in. After her basket, the Panthers scored, ending the quarter tied 15-15. The Panthers outscored the Ephs 23-4 during the 2
nd quarter.
Arianna Gerig scored 2 free throws; and, on another play, she took the ball coast-to-coast and hooked it over her right shoulder for 2. The half ended 38-19, Panthers leading.
As a Panther jumped and shot the ball, junior
Ellie Tounkara blocked it straight up.
Tatum Leuenberger rebounded the ball off of
Hanorah Murphy's shot and, from down under, she dribbled twice, pushed her defender back, and scored the basket. On the next Eph scoring attempt, first-year
Tatum Leuenberger received a pass in the key from
Sarah Batra and dribbled in again to score the basket. The Ephs were behind the Panthers 48-23. On a pass-in from the right-side of the court, sophomore guard
Logan Coster dribbled slowly, handed the ball to
Tatum Leuenberger, and lingered in front of Leuenberger's defender.
Tatum Leuenberger took advantage of the stall and drained a 3 for the Ephs, ending the quarter behind 61-26 in Middlebury's favor.
In the first half of the 4
th quarter,
Arianna Gerig scored 10 points for the Ephs with 4 lay-ups and 2 free throws.
Logan Coster made a free throw and then, on the turn-around, she picked off a Panther pass and took a solo lay-up back over for the Ephs to make it 82-41. Utilizing rebounds,
Hanorah Murphy picked a teammate's missed shot and passed it back out to junior guard
Kate Keenan who put it back up for a long 2. The game ended 84-43 Panthers.
Ephs head coach
Pat Manning said, "Middlebury outplayed us in every aspect of the game. We did not respond well when our shots didn't fall and, it carried over to our defense. It was probably our poorest defense of the season. So, we will regroup from this frustrating game. Middlebury is a great team and they are having a great season, but we should have competed better and given them more of a challenge than we did."
On Friday the 26
th, the Ephs will play Tufts University at 7pm at home in Chandler Gymnasium.
