Wesleyan Dominates Ephs in NESCAC Quarterfinals
MIDDLETON, Conn. – Seeking to avenge last Saturday’s final regular season loss to Wesleyan (17-8, 7-3), the Williams women's basketball team fell far short of their goal in the first round of the NESCAC Tournament on Saturday.The third-seeded Cardinals dominated the sixth-seeded Ephs on all fronts, 68-49, effectively ending Williams' season.
The Ephs finish the 2007-2008 with an overall record of 16-9 and a conference record of 6-4. Wesleyan advances to the NESCAC Semifinals, and will face off against the winner of the Middlebury/Tufts game next Saturday at Amherst College.
Despite playing less than stellar basketball throughout the first half, the Ephs managed to keep the gap close in the early going. Lucky to be heading into the locker room with only an eight-point deficit, Williams could not bounce back from poor play that has plagued them since last Friday’s match up versus Connecticut College.
The first half was a low scoring affair as both teams combined for a mere thirty points in the opening fourteen minutes of play. Nevertheless, powered by a hefty home crowd, Wesleyan built a 12-2 run to start the game. Ahead by five at 14-9, Wesleyan’s Nikki Maletta got the friendly home roll on a three point shot to go ahead 17-9. The Cardinals would one-up that lead at 3:30 with the score at 25-16.
Williams senior Dominique de la Torre dominated for a stretch late in the half, rattling off eight points to narrow the lead to five at 25-20. The run was short-lived and Wesleyan expanded their lead to ten at 31-21 with twenty seconds on the clock. The Ephs capitalized off a sloppy turnover to bring the first half score to 31-23 and salvage a bit of momentum for the final twenty minutes.
If Williams had nabbed any momentum in the final play of the first half, it was certainly lost very early in the second. Wesleyan opened the second half on a 6-0 run after converting off three Ephs turnovers, and the Cardinals never looked back. After quickly building a formidable lead in the second frame, Wesleyan was able to milk the clock in the final ten minutes while maintaining effective offensive execution.
The Ephs shot only 26.5% from the floor in the second frame, and paired with a much improved 50.0% field-goal percentage from the opposing team, a comeback appeared out of reach. Leading by as many as twenty-one points in the final five minutes, the Wesleyan head coach eventually subbed out her starters with 1:13 on the clock and her bench players closed out the game, 68-49.
All five starters contributed solid offensive minutes for Wesleyan. Lucy Sprung finished the game with 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting. She added 12 boards to notch her ninth double-double of the season. Nikki Maletta added 14 points and 8 boards, while Ali Fourney contributed 11 points. The team's other two starters, Stephanie Savas and Meredith Lowe, chipped in 7 and 8 points respectively.
De la Torre finished one point shy of finishing her collegiate career with a double-double, scoring 9 points and demonstrating a huge effort on the glass for the Ephs with 11 rebounds. Chessie Jackson led the team with 17 points, while Mika Peterman added 11 points.
