Williams Women Grab First Conference Win
WILLIAMSTOWN – Five players scored in double figures to lead the Williams women's basketball team (11-5, 1-1) past the visiting Colby Mules (3-10, 0-2) on Saturday for their first conference win of the season.Both teams entered the contest having suffered difficult defeats the night before. Williams was looking to rebound from a 65-62 loss against Bowdoin, while Colby hoped to bounce back from a 64-62 loss versus Middlebury.
Youth and inexperience certainly played a factor as Colby's roster consists of all freshman and sophomores with the exception of senior Katie McCabe. Although Williams' starting lineup boasts two first years, the maturity and leadership of the squad's junior and seniors certainly contributes a great deal to their success on the court. The more complete Eph squad dominated on all fronts to defeat the Mules, 73-49.
Merely seven minutes into play, Williams had already built a substantial 11-point advantage following a pass by Whitney Livermore to Chessie Jackson for three points to bring the score to 17-6. The Ephs continued their surge and put together a 13-2 run.
Mika Peterman started the ball rolling with a shot from behind the arc, while Dominique de la Torre took the ball hard inside for back-to-back plays in the paint. Taylor Shea took her turn to contribute, and scored the next five points before Niki Savageau stole the ball for a lay up to bring the Williams lead to an even 20.
Ahead 40-20 with 3:30 to play in the half, the balanced scoring attack continued and Williams headed into the locker room with a comfortable 44-24 advantage. Peterman and Shea had already broke double digits with 10 and 13 points respectively. The Ephs had already established the advantage on the glass with a 26-17 margin. A 2-for-10 effort from three-point range did not aid the Mules' cause either.
"Mika's [Peterman] shooting is always on and Niki [Savageau] did a great job of finding people the ball," said Manning. "Our shooting percentage was better, we read the defense better, and attacked well. Taylor has been off lately but was a big factor today. Everything was just more balanced and better."
The second half rolled along in similar fashion. Williams' intensity stayed high, and the team expanded their lead to 28 with 5:39 on the clock. The large lead gave Williams head coach, Pat Manning, the opportunity to empty her bench and give all her players some minutes on the floor.
"It is always a challenge on a NESCAC weekend," said Manning. "To play two days in a row is always tough regardless of what happened the night before, but bringing the same intensity is not easy to do and we were able to set the tone early. It was solid team effort with good ball movement."
Peterman finished 14 points, while de la Torre and Savageau chipped in 10 points each. Savageau standing at 5-foot-4 grabbed seven boards as well. Shea contributed 13 points and seven rebounds, while Harris added 10 points. Jackson finished one point and one rebound shy of a double double with 9 points and nine rebounds. McCabe led all scorers with 15 points and 5 boards, while Alison Cappelloni tallied 8 points for the Mules.
Williams will continue in NESCAC action on Tuesday against Little Three foe Wesleyan. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. in Chandler Gymnasium.
