Ephs win big on Senior Day; defeat 14th ranked Tufts, 63-46
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An excited Ephs squad used some much needed emotion and adrenaline following a disappointing loss to Bates last night. Honoring the team's three seniors- Dominique de la Torre, Niki Savageau, and Whitney Livermore- prior to the game, Williams came onto the court playing to send their leaders out with a victory.
A visibly impressed head coach, Pat Manning, commented, "This was an unbelievable defensive effort. We [Williams] felt that last night's effort was so inconsistent, and felt like we had been raising our game to a new level but just did not continue it… Today I am so proud of our play."
With two players just one point shy of having all starters in double-digits, a balanced offensive front coupled with stifling defensive pressure was the recipe for success from the get-go. The Ephs opened play on a 7-0 run, and kept Tufts scoreless for the first 5:40.
Williams only shot 33.3% from the floor in the first period so despite their impressive defense, the Ephs could not mount a sizeable lead. The Jumbos narrowed the score to 12-9 with 6:34 to play before Williams pulled ahead by seven at the half, 22-15, off a pull jumper by Mika Peterman with two seconds on the clock.
The home team did not let up on their defensive intensity, and continued to build their lead. Two wide open three-point shots from Chessie Jackson expanded Williams' advantage to fourteen points at the half way point of the second half. Tufts committed their seventh foul with 7:36 to play, sending the Ephs into the bonus. Williams finished the game with a 15-of-20 effort from the charity stripe.
Williams reached a double-digit lead off a transition play. Peterman stole the ball before launching a deep pass to Niki Savageau. Savageau dished the ball to Shea on a bounce bass who easily layed the ball in for a 51-31 lead. Tufts would come within fourteen at one point, but Williams' play proved insurmountable.
The Ephs starters combined for 63 of their 66 total points. Taylor Shea recorded her third straight double-double with 16 points and 10 boards. Jackson contributed 15 points, while Peterman added 11 points and 5 boards. Savageau and de la Torre tallied 9 points on their Senior Day, with de la Torre grabbing team-high 11 boards.
Khalilah Ummah led Tufts with 13 points and 14 rebounds. Colleen Hart and Kim Moynihan followed Ummah with 10 and 8 points respectively.
Williams will play their final two regular season games at Connecticut College and Wesleyan next weekend. Game time against the Camels is set for 7:00 p.m on Friday.
