WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.—Down 10 points at halftime, the Williams women’s basketball team rallied for a 45-44 over Connecticut College in Saturday’s NESCAC quarterfinal at Chandler Gym.

 

With the win -- their second over the Camels in eight days -- the Ephs earned a date in the semifinals with No. 5 Tufts, who beat the Ephs by four points earlier this month.

 

Devon Caveney scored what proved to be the game winning basket for the Ephs (20-5). The sophomore guard dribbled into traffic, spun and split a pair of defenders to make a layup and give Williams a 45-41 lead. Not to be outdone, the Camels’ Carlee Smith drained a three from in front of her own bench with 2:13 to go, narrowing the gap to one. Conn coach Brian Wilson called timeout to settle his team, and prepare them for a furious final two minutes.

 

Neither team scored the rest of the way. A three-pointer from Caveney rattled in and out; the Camels’ Mairead Hynes had her shot blocked by Williams’ Oge Uwanaka. With 20 seconds left, the Camels’ Willa McKinley stole the ball and drove up the court, only to have her layup attempt blocked by Ellen Cook, who was then fouled. But Cook missed the first free throw of a one-and-one set, and a rebound by Smith gave the Camels the ball with 5.6 seconds left.

 

Conn called timeout. Then Eph coach Pat Manning called timeout. Then Williams’ Amanni Fernandez wrestled the inbounds pass away from Hynes and passed to Katie Litman, who passed to Cook, who held the ball for one more second before the final horn sounded.

 

MEN'S BASKETBALL

BRUNSWICK, Maine – In the quarterfinal round of the NESCAC tournament, the second-seeded Bowdoin College Polar Bears defeated the seventh-ranked Williams College Ephs by a score of 87-74.

 

Bowdoin's Lucas Hausman, NESCAC Player of the Week for two weeks running, took off in the second half, scoring 25 points on his way to a game-high 37 points, his third consecutive 30-point game. John Swords, owner of the best field-goal percentage in Division III basketball, failed to miss a field goal, notching 23 points and 13 rebounds.

 

Hayden Rooke-Ley led the Ephs with 28 points, and Ryan Kilcullen and Mike Greenman also contributed double-digit performances. Daniel Wohl, the Ephs' leading scorer, never found his stroke in this game, finishing with just eight points, though he did register 10 rebounds.

 

With the loss, the Ephs' season is over as a bid to the NCAA tournament is now out of the question. Despite a disappointing final game,  Wohl finishes his career with 1,278 points, making him the 13th-highest scorer in Williams College history.  Rooke-Ley, despite being injured for three weeks in January, finished the year with 394 points (19.7 ppg) and ends his career only one point shy of the 1,000-point mark with 999 career points (34th all-time). In addition, Rooke-Ley set a  school record for most 3-pointers in a  single game with 12 and broke the NCAA Division III for consecutive free throws made in a single season with 67.

 

MEN'S HOCKEY

AMHERST, MA -- After starting off with a 2-0 lead, the Williams College hockey team (14-8-2, 10-7-1 NESCAC) was unable to retain its lead against the Amherst Jeffs (18-4-2, 14-4-0 NESCAC) at the Orr Rink this afternoon, and ultimately fell 5-3 in their last regular season match.

 

Freshman David Italiano scored two goals in match, and sophomore Tyler Young scored his second goal in as many games, however the Ephs were unable to shut down the Jeffs’ offensive unit for the latter half of the game.  

 

The NESCAC Championships begin next weekend.