Williamstown, MA - The Williams College Ephs (3-3) looked to continue their undefeated home streak against the visiting Smith College Pioneers (6-1). Williams came out strong but soon fizzled out, having few answers for Smith's offensive threats. The Pioneers shot 58% on the night to the Ephs 38% and that spelled the difference. In what is now a three-game rough patch, Williams lost 74-54.
Smith broke the ice quickly on a transition play leading to an open lay-up. They continued their hot start with two more inside buckets before
Ellie Tounkara gave the Ephs their first points with a wing-three.
Tatum Leuenberger followed this up soon after with a difficult baseline hook shot with a defender right on top of her. Leuenberger and Tounkara kept this going, making corner threes, 11-9 Ephs. The hot start did not stop here for Williams with the Ephs leading scorer,
Arianna Gerig, getting her first basket off a post move. Leuenberger would cap off her amazing 10-point quarter with another three. The game was far from over but it was clear to anyone watching that this energy from the Ephs was nothing like their previous two road games. Williams led 18-12 heading into the second quarter.
It may have been cold outside but it was heating up inside Chandler Gymnasium. The Pioneers scored a moving mid-range jumper and then a subsequent wing-three, although
Cortland McBarron returned the favor with a long two for the Ephs, 20-19 Ephs. Smith turned the tide of the game by refocusing on the inside game, two lay-ups and two free throws put them up 25-20. The Williams offense had the right ideas but their execution got sloppy. The Ephs were never a team known for turnovers but this season, they have not looked like their usual selves, having 12 turnovers in just the first 15 minutes of this game. Smith kept adding to their lead until Tounkara ended the Eph drought with a shot-clock buzzer-beater three. In typical Gerig fashion, she scored off two back-to-back steals, taking the ball cross-court for the inside points. However, at the end of the half, Williams trailed 34-29.
Smith came out of halftime with an 11-2 run continuing their inside offense which worked for them at the end of the last half. Gerig gave the Ephs a much-needed reset with a three-point play on a close-range basket. The Ephs have showcased a strong defense so far this season but in this game, they could not contain the Smith guards who combined for 29 points. Even though the Williams offense cleaned up after halftime, the ball did not want to fall and the easy baskets they found in the first quarter were few and far between. Of those makes was a beautiful stretch of offense from first-year forward
Skylar Chui. She made a three-pointer off an assist from
Logan Coster and then on the next play had an and-one finish while falling to the ground. With the help of a late finish from
Hanorah Murphy, Williams was behind 52-44 before the final quarter.
The game started looking bleak for the Ephs with the Pioneers playing a slow and methodical form of hoops in the fourth quarter, going on a 9-0 run in the first five minutes. Soon after, Williams began to empty their bench and much of that original energy faded. With the exception of an 8-point quarter for Coster, Smith Smith prevailed 74-54.
On the disappointing defeat, Eph head coach
Pat Manning said, "They're a very good team and we just lost our composure and did not execute our game plan the way we should have. It was a frustrating night and we were no like ourselves. Give Smith a lot of credit, they played great defense and made us work for everything but I wish we challenged more. Our offensive struggles carried over to our defense and that led to a lot of easy baskets for them. Disappointing but we do not have a lot of time to think about it before our two games over the weekend.
The Ephs will have little time to regroup before Friday at 6 pm against Regis College, their first of two upcoming back-to-back home games as part of the Shooting Touch Tournament.
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