Fort Lauderdale, Florida - The Williams College Ephs (6-3) traveled down to Florida for two games as part of the Cruzin Classic Tournament. The first game saw them play the Concordia University Falcons (2-6) from Wisconsin where their inside play and a dominant performance by senior captain
Arianna Gerig led them to a 59-46 victory.
Both teams started slow before the Falcons broke the ice with a wing-three for the early lead. The Ephs soon tied it up with
Ellie Tounkara making a free throw and
Mairi Smith making a shot inside.
Micah Walton and
Arianna Gerig added to this Eph lead with 6 points coming off of drives, 11-7. Concordia kept up their focus on the inside game and made it 13-9 at the end of the first quarter.
Walton came out strong in the second quarter for the Ephs, hitting a quick three. In response, the Falcons began fighting to get to the free-throw line and scored on a couple of trips, 14-12. For the next couple of minutes, the Ephs went on a 10-0 run led by Gerig and
Cortland McBarron constantly focusing and swinging the ball into the paint for the easy twos. The Falcons called a timeout and drew up a play for an inside drive that managed to end the Williams run. At halftime the Ephs had a comfortable 26-14 lead.
Williams came out of halftime determined to grow their lead. Gerig maintained her paint play in the second half going on an individual 6-0 run to start the third quarter until a mid-range jumper for the Falcons managed to shift the momentum. However, Walton drained another three to give the Ephs their largest lead at 35-16. Concordia strung together a few more inside baskets but a three-point play from Tounkara contributed to her strong third quarter. On the defensive end, Smith and
Tatum Leuenberger, who returned today from a few-game absence, racked up blocks and contested shots that prevented the Falcons from converting on their drives. Helping on both sides of the floor, Leuenberger drained a three, 41-25. However, to close the quarter, Concordia went on a 9-0 run led by their shooting coming alive for a much more competitive 41-34 game heading into the final quarter.
The tide stayed in the favor of Concordia early in the fourth quarter with their hot shooting streak carrying over from the third. However, the Ephs offense led by Gerig stuck with what gave them their early success as she went on an 8-0 individual run, consistently finishing in the paint with her team hunting to get her the ball every possession, 51-37. Gerig finished with 26Â points and 9Â rebounds. Halfway through the fourth, Concordia had a spark of life with a four-point run but Smith's inside two and block on the other end sealed the game for the Ephs. After converting their free throws, Williams emerged victorious 59-46.
Eph head coach
Pat Manning had this to say about the and importance of today's game, "I want to highlight Arianna and Cortland. Arianna was dominant on both the offensive and defensive ends. Cortland played a great game for us, 11 rebounds, 7 points, and 4 steals. She was everywhere on the court even with her tough defensive assignment. Arianna took the game over even when Concordia went on their run. Micah did a good job as well, coming up with key baskets every time Concordia went on the run. Mairi had 5 blocks. Ellie was all over the court too. Concordia challenged us and this was a good game to get back on the court with. Tomorrow we play a strong team but we invite this challenge before playing against the loaded NESCAC conference."
Williams hopes to carry this momentum into tomorrow when they play a Gettysburg College team at 12:30 pm also in Florida.
