LEWISTON, MAINE - - The Williams College Ephs (11-8) entered this NESCAC contest against the Bates College Bobcats (11-8) following an upsetting past two games where they struggled in the second half. Despite a strong Eph third quarter and 26 points for
Arianna Gerig along with 17 points for both
Micah Walton and
Tatum Leuenberger, Bates's efficient shooting and 16 more free throws opportunities than Williams proved the difference delivering the Bobcats an]Â 80-74 win..
The game started with both teams attacking the paint. Bates came out with an early and-one basket before Williams went on a run with
Micah Walton,
Mairi Smith, and
Tatum Leuenberger finishing down low in response, all orchestrated by
Arianna Gerig. The Bobcats stuck with the inside game and kept getting themselves to the free-throw line and halfway through the quarter, they had a one-point lead. Williams would soon take the lead with a pull-up mid-range jumper from Walton and a deep three from Leuenberger, 15-11 Ephs. The free throw game kept working for the Bobcats but a three from
Ellie Tounkara and a drive from Gerig gave Williams a comfortable lead. However, at the end of the quarter, Bates scored two quick lay-ups and they only trailed by one point, 20-19.
Early into the second quarter, Bates strung together an impressive run built by stretching the floor and creating distance opportunities, 29-24. In response, Gerig put together two drives, converting on both including an and-one.
Kathleen Smith too kept with the inside scoring game plan, drawing two fouls and making four free throws, 32-29. While Gerig kept up her strong half, in which she finished with 13 points, the Ephs only shot 36.8% from the field. The shooting splits for Williams have been less than desirable so far through their NESCAC games. In comparison, the shooting for the Bobcats remained stellar with them shooting 51.7% in the first half and 4 of 8 from three. This included two threes and a deep mid-range jumper to close out the half, 43-35 Bates.
The Ephs in the second half of their past NESCAC games have not looked like their usual selves but this third quarter broke that streak. Williams came out of halftime with a 10-0 run led by two jumpers from Leuenberger who had 10 points in the third and strong offense and defense from Gerig to tie the game at 45. The Ephs continued strong throughout the quarter with Leuenberger and Walton shooting the lights out along with big rebounding and orchestrating from
Cortland McBarron to take a 6-point lead, 55-49. Unfortunately for the Ephs, the tides shifted with Leuenberger picking up her fourth foul and being forced to sub out. This led to the Bobcats closing the quarter with a 6-0 run and Williams led 57-56 heading into the final quarter.
Williams continued where they left off with their shooting in the fourth quarter with Tounkara draining a wing-three. Another Walton jumper gave a bit of a late cushion until the Bobcats went back to their inside offense which gave them much success in the fourth. Two Bates drives and a free throw tied things at 63 with five minutes left to play. It was Bobcat Elsa Delaurio who proved to be a major challenge for the Ephs as she had her career high of 28 points tonight and just could not seem to miss. The Bobcats switched to a full-court trap which seemed to overwhelm the Ephs and their full-court offense but in transition, Gerig stayed as her usual dominant self and had an and-one drive to retake the lead at 68-66. For the Bobcats on offense, they were getting bailed out repeatedly and had most of their points in the quarter come from the charity stripe, 72-68. In the final minutes, Williams had a few empty offensive possessions that seemingly buried them but an untimely Bates turnover gave Gerig an opportunity down-low which she converted along with a free throw to tie everything at 72. Yet another two fouls against Williams gave the Bobcats a 4-point lead with less than a minute to go. The Ephs would not connect on their last real chance and the Bobcats survived to the finish and won 80-74.
On the game and the events in the fourth quarter, head coach
Pat Manning said, "We had too many turnovers down the stretch and Bates capitalized. We were excited that it was the best we played in a couple of weeks and this is a good sign for the future. I want to praise Micah, Arianna, and Tatum who had tremendous games both offensively and defensively. It was our fewest turnovers and best rebounding game in a while. We did so many good things… They had twice as many free throws and every time they drove they were getting the call. This was a big part of the game when you have a team go to the line that many times and shoot 82%. But we had our chances too and had good looks but we just did not score when we needed to… We had three players in double figures but lacked production across the board which we will definitely need on Sunday."
The Ephs will get a brief break from NESCAC games when they travel to Hartford to play the University of Saint Joseph on Sunday, February 2nd at 1 pm.
