Williams Women's Basketball Defeats Bowdoin
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The victory marks the Ephs first win over the Polar Bears since Feb. 12, 2000, and clinches a home game for the first round of the NESCAC tournament. Captain Elizabeth Hansen, the lone senior on the team, was honored for her four-year contribution to the program prior to today's game.
"The motivation behind this game was Elizabeth [Hansen]," said Williams' head coach Pat Manning. "She is such an unselfish, devoted and dedicated player. The freshman set the gym up before today's game, and the juniors wrote the tribute. Everyone thinks so much of her. To recover from a disappointing loss last night shows amazing resilience. It was an all around collective effort today, and that epitomizes Elizabeth. It was a fitting day."
Williams opened the game slowly, falling behind Bowdoin, 12-3. The Ephs picked up the defensive intensity quickly to stop any further damage, and held Bowdoin scoreless for a five minute period to push ahead of the opposition. Kelsey Ham came off the bench to provide a defensive spark, and contributed on the other end of the floor as well.
Ham scored a bucket off a fast break to tie the game at 14-14 with 12:35 left on the clock. A minute later a Taylor Shea jumper would give the Ephs their first lead of the game. The Ephs pulled ahead 24-16 with five minutes remaining in the first half. Grace Rehnquist and Clare Baecher hit back-to-back 3-point shots to build a thirteen point advantage - the Ephs' largest lead of the half. Williams headed into the break ahead, 37-24.
With 13:43 remaining in regulation, Clare Baecher hit a three from the wing. Jennie Harding followed with a steal and a layup to bring the Ephs advantage to 15 points, forcing the visiting squad to call a timeout. Bowdoin came out of the timeout and threw a full-court press a t the Ephs for much of the second half, but Wi lliams handled the pressure with ease. Baecher hit another shot from behind the arc to give the Ephs a 20-point plus advantage at 68-46 and Williams sealed the win, 75-54.
"We let the game go last night against Colby because we did not have any consistency," continued Manning. "Today we brought defensive intensity, and did the little things. Our rebounding was better, our boxing out was better. We put together a complete game. It was a fun day all around."
Katie Bergeron scored a game-high 18 points for Bowdoin. Caitlin Hynes added 10 points and eight boards, while teammate Amy Hackett chipped in with 12 points.
Four Ephs scored in double figures. Jill Greenberg led the charge with 15 points. Baecher followed with 14, while Rehnquist and Shea added 10 and 11 points respectively.
Williams will travel to Amherst and Trinity in their final weekend of the regular season. Game time on Saturday, Feb. 13, in Amherst is set for 6 p.m.
