Williams Women Lose to Wesleyan, 65-47

Williams Sports Info - February 19, 2008

MIDDLETOWN, Conn.  - The Williams women's basketball team capped off a disappointing weekend of play on Saturday with their second loss in as many days to conference foe Wesleyan University (16-8, 6-3), 65-47.

The Ephs could have clinched a home game as the fourth-seed in next weekend's NESCAC Tournament quarterfinals with a victory. Following the loss, Williams will now return to Wesleyan for a rematch as the sixth seed next weekend.

Poor shooting from behind the arc and the free throw line continued to hurt the Ephs this afternoon. Williams shot a mere 28.6 percent from downtown, and went 5-of-15 from the charity stripe. Luckily for the Ephs, Wesleyan shot only 30.3 percent from the floor and Williams was able to stay in the contest.

The Ephs were kept off the scoreboard until the sixth minute of play, and knotted the score at six apiece with 12:01 on the clock. Wesleyan led by as many as twelve points at 24-12 with 4:23 in the first period before Williams narrowed the gap to six at the break. Wesleyan rattled off the first thirteen points of the second half and ran away with the game, 65-47.

"i felt like our defense was fairly good in the first half," said Williams head coach Pat Manning. "We had some momentum heading into the second half, but we never got things together on either end of the floor. We were forced to play catch up for the rest of the game."

Wesleyan’s Ali Fourney led all scorers with 23 points. Lucy Spring notched a double-double with 11 points and 11 boards, while teammate Meredith Lowe was strong on the glass with 11 boards and 6 points.

Mika Peterman led the Ephs with 13 points. Chessie Jackson chipped in 9 points and 7 boards. Jess Harris played a strong outing in the loss, tallying a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds.