Williams women’s basketball faced off against Hamilton 64-61
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“They [Hamilton] were an NCAA team last year” said Williams head coach Pat Manning. “They had been off for ten days, and were just looking to beat up on somebody. They challenged us, rebounded well, and left it all out on the floor. It was a good test for our team.”
Opening the game strong, Williams quickly found themselves ahead 5-0. The Continentals would not stay quiet for long. Pumla Sathula found a rhythm from downtown, draining two three-pointers to spark a 12-0 run by Hamilton. Down 15-10 at the 11:20 mark, Taylor Shea took matters into her own hands. Shea returned to the game to rattle off six consecutive points to regain the lead for her squad with 9:44 to play in the first period.
After calling a timeout, the tenacious Hamilton team bounced back to amass an eleven-point lead. With Dominique de la Torre on the bench in foul trouble, the Continentals’ post players really took it to the smaller Ephs squad. Hamilton’s rebounding proved to be the Ephs’ downfall in the first half, as they outrebounded the home team 26-16.
Chessie Jackson had been contained on the offensive end for most of the first half, but it was only a matter of time before she began to make a little noise. Niki Savageau penetrated the zone defense, and then kicked the ball back out to Jackson who notched her first three points of the game. Another Jackson shot from behind the arc capped off a 9-0 run by Williams to narrow the opposition’s lead to three at 33-30.
The teams traded baskets for the opening ten minutes of the second frame, neither team able to build a lead greater than four points. Williams finally reclaimed their first lead since the second minute of play after Mika Peterman coolly sank a three pointer with the clock shot about to hit zero.
Ahead 45-44 at the 11:35 mark, the Ephs scored the next five points. Jackson continued to provide a spark with her three ball, and then made a nice pass to fellow freshman Jessica Harris who complete the lay in to nab their largest lead of the night at 50-44. Never letting themselves out of contention, Hamilton clawed to within one point of the lead with four minutes to play.
Peterman, who along with Jackson proved to bail the Ephs out in many situations, reclaimed a five point lead with 1:58 to play. On the ensuing play, Hamilton’s Sathula drove in for a lay up to score the 1000th point of her career. Play was halted as she was honored for her accomplishment.
In the final minute of play, the contest became a game of free throw shooting. Now into the bonus, Peterman hit both free throws with twenty one seconds left on the clock to go ahead 64-59. Hamilton’s Laura Wetmore took the ball up the court. In a controversial call by the referee, Wetmore headed to the charity stripe despite claims from the Williams side that had merely tripped over herself. Nonetheless, the game became even more interesting as the Hamilton guard was successful on both free throw attempts.
To stop the clock, Peterman was fouled again but this time missed the front end of the one and one. Able to break Williams’ press on the final possession, Hamilton’s Jess Barrows had an open look to tie the game but missed. Jackson grabbed the defensive rebound and held on for the final two seconds to clinch the 64-61 victory.
“At halftime, I really emphasized rebounding,” continued Manning. “We managed to finish the game ahead in rebounds, and that caused a big swing of things in the second half. We took care of the ball, and took better shots. People really stepped up at the end and that’s what you want in a team.”
Peterman finished the game with 21 points, while Harris contributed 14 points of her own. Jackson added 11 points and 9 rebounds, while Shea added 9 points and 9 rebounds.
Sathula led Hamilton with 20 points and 9 rebounds. Teammates Sydney Fasulo and Jess Barrows added 13 and 9 points respectively.
Williams will open conference play this weekend against Bowdoin and Colby. They face off first against Bowdoin on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
