Williams Defeats Gordon in Winter Classic
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All 11 dressed players contributed significant minutes on the court, while Elizabeth Hansen and Maddie King provided an offensive spark by scoring double digits coming off the bench. Starters Mika Peterman and Taylor Shea rounded out the four players who led the Ephs with a 10-point plus effort on the night.
The Ephs established dominance early and cruised to a 14-0 lead within the first five minutes of play. Gordon's head coach called a timeout in attempt to regroup the squad, and the Fighting Scots managed to score their first field goal at the 15:39 mark. Williams' defense proved impenetrable for the opposition, and kept Gordon to just 17 points in the first half and t23 percent shooting from the floor.
"This game was really focused towards defense for us," said Williams head coach Pat Manning. "We have trouble putting out a consistent defensive effort and that was our main area of emphasis today. Our goal was solid defense for 40 minutes and we achieved that tonight."
Williams' offensive effort was not too shabby either. Gordon opened play in a 2-3 zone, later changed to a box and one defense, and even threw a full-court press on the table. The Ephs handled every defensive strategy with ease, and shot a quality 49.3 percent from the floor and 53.3 percent from behind the arc.
The box and one defense proved ineffective for Gordon, and Maddie King showed them why. King came off the bench to rattle off a quick eight points in the first half, and the Eph rookie was on fire when shooting baseline jumpers. King finished the game with a team high, and career high, 16 points. The Eph guard, along with Elizabeth Hansen who is always a reliable player at point and shooting from downtown, helped seal the Ephs win early on.
Leading 53-17 at the half, nothing changed in the second half. Williams continued to protect their large lead, and finished the game with a 50-point margin of victory. Ten of 11 players got on the scoreboard, and the win proved to be another all around team effort for the Ephs. These wins will be important confidence boosters before heading into tough conference play within the next week of January.
Mika Peterman contributed 15 points, while Chessie Jackson chipped in eight points. Jessica Harris has been unstoppable on the boards, grabbing nine rebounds and adding eight points as well. Hansen and Taylor Shea tallied 10 points each, while King dominated with 16 points.
Rebecca Carroll led the way for the Fighting Scots with nine points and seven rebounds. Teammate Erin Thames chipped in eight points and eight boards, while Kimberly Levinsky also added eight points to Gordon's effort.
Williams will face off against Babson College in the championship game of the Williams Winter Classic at 3 p.m. in Chandler Gymnasium. Babson defeated Drew University today by a score of 68-53 to advance to the championship match up, while Drew and Gordon will face off in the consolation game at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow.
Babson defeats Drew, 68-53
Lackluster offense marked the first half of Friday's contest between Babson College (3-6) and Drew University (2-6), but the Beavers erupted for 47 points in the second period to win a place in the championship game of the Williams Winter Classic. Nicole McManus led the Babson effort with a double-double, scoring 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Allison Hartnett led Drew's offensive effort, scoring a game-high 18 points.
The game started off very slow for both teams, and there was five- or six-minute period in which neither team found the basket. Drew did not even reach double digits until the last five minutes of the first half. The lethargic offenses can be credited to poor shooting percentages, as Drew and Babson shot a very poor 25 and 27.9 percent from the floor.
Babson managed to create a 14-point lead, ahead 21-7 with 4:39 to play but saw it slip away as Drew rallied from behind with an 8-0 run and came within two points, 21-19, at the break. The game appeared like it might be a close match to the finish, but Babson began to mount a lead again. With only eight players dressed, fatigue may have been a factor for Drew. The Beavers had a nineteen point lead at the 6:15 mark. Drew crawled within ten points, but Babson remained under control for the 68-53 win.
Babson will face Williams on Saturday at 3 in the championship game of the Winter Classic, while Gordon and Drew will play each other in the consolation game at 1.
