WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS.— The Williams College Ephs (9-11, 1-5, NESCAC) fell to the Tufts University Jumbos (11-6, 3-2, NESCAC) tonight in Chandler Gym 63-57.
The Ephs had four players hit double-digits in scoring tonight:
Mairi Smith with 15,
Arianna Gerig and
Tatum Leuenberger with 11 a piece, and
Ellie Tounkara with 10 points.
Arianna Gerig achieved a double-double collecting 16 rebounds,and recording 6 assists, and 5 steals.
Tatum Leuenberger snared 7 rebounds and a block.
To open up scoring for the Ephs, guard
Cortland McBarron found first-year
Tatum Leuenberger at the top of the arc who floated the ball for a 3. Junior
Arianna Gerig quickly passed to guard
Ellie Tounkara who hit a triple from the right corner to bring the Ephs lead 8-2. As the defense collapsed to cover her,
Arianna Gerig drove into the key and quickly passed to
Ellie Tounkara on a key-cut who assured the Eph 2 and 1 on the free throw foul call. Guard
Tatum Leuenberger drove straight into the key; as the defense went to cover her, she went over the top of the defense with a high-arced 2 shot to bring the Eph lead to seven over the Jumbos at 15-8. However, the Jumbos came back and ended the quarter 15-15.
Arianna Gerig had 8 defensive rebounds in the quarter.
Junior
Kate Keenan passed over the defense under the hoop to first-year
Mairi Smith who dribbled once and took the ball up for 2. From the left-side perimeter, junior
Ellie Tounkara dribbled in, taking her defender with her, using the window to to score bringing the Ephs back ahead by 1 at 19-18. During a transition to offense,
Arianna Gerig passed ahead to
Kate Keenan; Keenan popped it up for a clean 2. The quarter ended 31-21 Jumbos leading.
Arianna Gerig took a hard drive into the key, passed back to
Mairi Smith, Smith quickly passed out from under the basket to
Cortland McBarron, and McBarron passed to an open
Ellie Tounkara at the top of the key for a 2.
Arianna Gerig passed to
Cortland McBarron in the left corner, the defense followed the pass, and McBarron found forward
Mairi Smith open for the 2, bringing the Ephs within 4 of the Jumbos at 33-29. Junior
Cortland McBarron passed to
Mairi Smith inside the key; Smith did a small spin move to catch the pass on her right-side, bringing it to her her left, and laid it up for 2. To bring the Ephs within 3 of the Jumbos,
Cortland McBarron hit an open jumper and junior
Kate Keenan drained 2 free throws. The Jumbos hit 2 field goals that brought them back up 42-35. At the buzzer for the quarter, first-year
Tatum Leuenberger hit a 3 to bring the Ephs within 4, 42-38.
Arianna Gerig passed to
Mairi Smith in the paint, and she dribbled and then faded away for a 2. The Jumbos scored on a fast-break, and on the turn-around the Ephs answered with their own fast break.
Tatum Leuenberger drove into the key, shot from right-side over her head on her right-side, made the basket and one. To start an 8-point run for the Ephs.
Arianna Gerig passed into
Mairi Smith off of a pick and roll,
Cortland McBarron cut through the key, Smith turned around and passed. McBarron laid it up quickly and in.
Cortland McBarron passed to
Mairi Smith and Smith squared up and nailed a jumper.
Mairi Smith bucketed two free throws on the next Eph scoring attempt.
Arianna Gerig stole the ball in transition and brought the game to a tie 53-53 with a layup. The game ended 63-57 Jumbos.
Ephs head coach
Pat Manning said, "I am really proud of our effort, coming back like that and taking the lead in the fourth again. I give a lot of credit to Tufts. They came up with a lot of big shots when they had too. I am happy with the way we competed and I thought Ari was a force on the boards with her double-double. What I liked most about our team, today, was our more balanced scoring. It's been something we've been stressing, and we had 4 of our starters scoring in the double digits tonight. We took a step in the right direction. Tufts is a great team. I am most proud of how well we competed tonight."
The Ephs next face No.25 Bates College tomorrow at home in Chandler Gymnasium at 3pm.
