Williams finally broke their losing skid 75-68 Cardinals
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Chessie Jackson and Jessica Harris sparked the Ephs offense in the first half, as the two sophomores combined for 28 of 34 points in the opening twenty minutes. Jackson found her shooting touch quickly, starting the game with two consecutive three-pointers. She notched her third shot from behind the arc to solidify a 26-14 lead, before Wesleyan whistled for a timeout.
The Ephs continued to surge ahead, leading by as many as sixteen points at 30- 14 with 5:56 left in the first frame following two lay-ups in the lane by Harris. The Ephs lead by ten at the break, 34-24.
While Jackson and Harris teamed up on the offensive end, Harris and Taylor Shea made their presence known on defense with the tough assignments of guarding Wesleyan’s Lucy Sprung and Ali Fourney, respectively. Fourney leads the team with 19.5 points per game, and although she finished the contest with a game- high 23 points, the Ephs kept the star to just 5 points in the first half. Sprung was kept to just 6 in the half.
“Taylor’s [Shea] defense made a huge difference,” commented Williams head coach Pat Manning. “Jess Harris was on Sprung, and they both played aggressive defense that set the tone for the entire team both on defense and with rebounding.”
This aggressive defense forced 20 Wesleyan turnovers that allowed the Ephs to run the ball and play a fast pace offense that they prefer.
Senior captain Mika Peterman was kept scoreless in the first half, but came out firing in the second period by scoring the first eight points for Williams. The Ephs rebuilt another sizeable lead, going ahead by twenty at 15:59. The two teams continued to trade baskets until the final five minutes, when Williams’ grasp on the game began to loosen.
Fourney notched a traditional three-point play in the lane to narrow the gap to twelve at the 4:07 mark. The Wesleyan forward was fouled on the following possession, missed the front end of the one and one, but was bailed out when teammate Meredith Lowe grabbed the rebound for an easy put back at the block.
Lowe notched two free throws on the ensuing possession to bring the score to 68-60 with 2:04 to play. The inconsistent play that has plagued Williams thus far in the season seemed to be creeping back quickly, and the final minutes turned into a tight-knit battle.
“I felt like we had some veterans on the floor, but mostly players who are new that situation,” said Manning. “We haven’t been in that situation since November, and overall we made good decisions, but we still need to clean that up a bit.” Wesleyan continued to climb back into the game. Fourney grabbed a steal on an inbounds play, right under the basket, to narrow the lead to 71-64. The Cardinals resorted to fouling to stop the clock, and Peterman missed the front end of a one-and-one situation, allowing Wesleyan to score on the ensuing possession for a five-point game with 45 seconds to play.
The Ephs were whistled for traveling on the following possession, and Lowe pulled up for a jumper at the foul line to bring the Cardinals within three at 71- 68 with 26 seconds on the clock. Shea and Jackson combined for a 4-of-6 effort from the charity stripe to help seal the win, 75-68.
“Our number one problem has been inconsistency,” continued Manning. “We would have 20 good minutes, and then fall apart, or vice versa. Wesleyan is a good team with a lot of weapons, and today we finally had a consistent effort for forty minutes.”
Williams received a more balanced effort than usual in tonight’s game. Harris continued from last weekend and finished with another stellar effort, scoring 19 and grabbing 11 boards. Jackson tallied 21 points, while Peterman contributed 13 points. Shea was just two points shy of a double-double, notching 8 points and tallying a game-high 15 rebounds. Freshman point guard Jill Greenberg added 9 points and 9 assists.
Fourney tallied a game-high 23 points, moving into third place on Wesleyan’s all time scoring list with 1,361 points in her four-year career. Lowe added 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Sprung scored 13 points.
The Ephs have finally ended their losing streak, but believe there is much more work to be done.
“It is nice, but it’s just a step,” said Manning. “We need to forget about this game now, and think about Connecticut College tomorrow. They are an aggressive team on defense, and we need to clear our heads, and be fresh for tomorrow.
