TROY, N.Y. - Sophomore
Micah Walton scored a game-high 23 points and juniors
Hanorah Murphy and
Kathleen Smith combined for 25 points and 13 rebounds off the bench for the Williams College women's basketball team during a 73-70 setback at RPI Tuesday.
Murphy scored a career-best 15 points, shooting 7 of 11 from the floor off the bench for the Ephs (0-2), while Smith compiled personal bests of 10 points and nine rebounds, including seven offensive boards. Smith shot 4 of 4 from the free-throw line and went 3 for 4 from the field. Walton went 10 of 19 from the field, while finishing with four rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Williams led the rebounding battle, 43-36, and steals, 8-6, while both teams recorded 15 assists. Leading the way for the Engineers (3-1) were Niamh Gendron (17 points, 5 rebounds) and Sophie Costello (13 points).
"We played better than we did on Friday," said head coach
Pat Manning. "Micah was a force tonight and really got us back in the game and we made it close at the end. Hanorah came in and made a huge difference. Kathleen almost had a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds, so that was really exciting to see kids step up and have the best games of their careers. We did a lot of good things tonight. Our philosophy is we go one game at a time and try to get better every game. RPI came up with big shots in crunch time. We have a learning curve every season, but we have a lot of kids in different roles this year. We are still figuring things out as far as rotations go and things like that."
A jumper by Walton at the first-quarter buzzer evened the game at 12-12. RPI built a 41-29 advantage with 5:35 left in the third, but the Ephs responded with an 18-8 surge, trimming the deficit down to 49-47 on back-to-back made free throws by Walton with 18 seconds showing.
A 3-point shot by Gendron gave the hosts a 62-51 advantage with 7:25 on the clock in the fourth quarter. The visitors answered again, scoring 11 straight points, with a layup by senior captain
Logan Coster evening the score at 62-62 with 3:36 left. RPI was able to hold off Williams by making seven free throws down the stretch in the three-point victory.
The Ephs will compete against University of Saint Joseph Friday at 6 p.m. in Chandler Gymnasium.
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