SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Trailing by eight early in the fourth quarter, the Williams College women's basketball team embarked on a 15-point run over a four-plus minute span, then held off host Skidmore College to defeat the Thoroughbreds in a season-opening, 72-68 victory. Junior Micah Walton led four Ephs (1-0) in double figures with 16 points to help counter Sophia Martinez' 19 points for Skidmore (0-1).
Williams entered the fourth quarter down by only two, 55-53, but the Thoroughbreds quickly rattled off six points in the first minute of action. Walton stemmed the tide with a bucket, and senior Kathleen Smith, who finished with 13 points, followed with one of her one in the lane as the duo cut the deficit in half at 61-57. After a 3-pointer courtesy of senior Tatum Leuenberger brought the Ephs within one, Walton drained a jumper, giving Williams its first lead since there were seven minutes to play in the first half.
But the Ephs weren't done as junior Sarah Pettegrove, Walton and Smith each added baskets to turn complete the 15-point run during which Williams hit 7-of-8 field goals to claim a 68-61 advantage. The only problem was that there were still four minutes to play and Skidmore was not simply going to go away.
In a quarter of runs, the Thoroughbreds tallied the next five points and had an opportunity to tie the game at 68 only to miss a pair of free throws with 2:22 on the clock. They still trailed by two the next time down the floor, yet the Ephs defense was up to the task, forcing a pair of missed shots before Pettegrove corralled the rebound and senior Hanorah Murphy sank a pull-up, baseline jumper to make it a two-possession game with 1:11 to go.
Both sides had an empty possession, but the clock was Skidmore's enemy by that point. Martinez drove to the rim for a layup to make it a 72-70 game and 12 ticks remaining, and after a timeout, Williams was able to run seven seconds off before the Thoroughbreds fouled Leuenberger, who calmly sank both free throws for the last of her 12 points on the night, which sealed the victory.
"This was a battle the whole game," Williams Head Coach Pat Manning said afterward. "I am proud of the way we stuck together and played with poise down the stretch. Our energy was much better in the second half; we played too tentatively in the first half. Our leaders really came through, especially in the fourth quarter. Just a great first win for us!"
The Eph defense tightened up in the second half, holding Skidmore to a paltry 27.3 percent (9-of-33) from the floor after the intermission. The Thoroughbreds had knocked down 57.1 percent (12-of-21) in the first half, including 6-of-9 (.667) from downtown.
The first half was mostly a back-and-forth affair with the lead changing hands seven times and the two side being tide on five other occasions. Williams had an early eight-point lead at 15-7 as Walton popped a pair of treys and Pettegrove added another, but Skidmore ended the quarter on a 7-0 run, making it a one-point game.
In the second quarter, the Thoroughbreds opened up a 30-22 lead thanks to three consecutive 3-pointers and some pressure defense, which forced 19 Eph turnovers in the contest. Sophomore Amaya Chase-Luthra nearly made up that difference herself, scoring the next seven points before senior Mairi Smith converted a free throw to knot the score for the last time at 30 apiece. But Skidmore outscored Williams by an 11-4 margin over the final three minutes to take a 41-34 lead into the locker room.
The Ephs played catch-up the entire third quarter, trailing by as many as nine before scoring the final seven points of the quarter to enter the fourth down, 55-53.
For the game, Williams shot 44.3 percent (27-of-61) from the floor and 43.8 percent (7-of-16) from distance. Although the Ephs had fewer than half the opportunities at the foul line, they knocked down 78.6 percent (11-of-14) compared to 58.6 percent (17-of-29) for the hosts. Skidmore hit 21-of-54 field goals (.389) and half their 3-point attempts (9-of-18).
Williams held a slight rebounding edge at 36-33, but turned the ball over three more times than Skidmore, which gave the Thoroughbreds a sizable 25-11 advantage in points off those miscues.
Walton finished the game 7-of-16 from the floor with a pair of treys for her 16 points while Smith was 5-of-8 on field goals and 3-of-4 at the line. Leuenberger was the Ephs' most efficient scorer, hitting both 3-point shots and both free throws and missing only two of her six field goal tries. Chase-Luthra led the team with six rebounds, hit all four foul shots and added a pair of triples on her night off the bench.
Williams will host Roger Williams, SUNY Geneseo and William Paterson this weekend for the Morin Memorial Tournament. The Ephs will play the first game on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 6 p.m. against Roger Williams in Chandler Gymnasium. The consolation and championship games will take place on Sunday at 1 and 3 p.m., respectively. All four games will be streamed live through the Northeast Sports Network portal online at nsnsports.net.
