BABSON PARK, MA—It's been scarcely eight months since the Williams and Vassar women's basketball teams clashed in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Only eight months since the thrilling battle in which the two sides traded buckets in near-lockstep for 40 minutes. And only eight months since the Brewers narrowly fended off the Ephs to claim their first-ever national tournament victory by a 76-75 count.

Eight months may not sound like a very long time, but for Amanni Fernandez and the Ephs, it made all the difference in the world on Sunday afternoon at neutral Staake Gym.

Fernandez, a freshman point guard who still has less than an hour of collegiate playing time to her name, scored 27 points off the bench to quarterback Williams (2-0) to a 75-67 win over the Brewers (0-2). Ellen Cook added 14 points for the Ephs, who took much less time than they did yesterday to dig themselves out of an early hole and shot 41.3% (26-61) on the afternoon.

The real story, though, was Fernandez. "She was just phenomenal," said Williams coach Pat Manning, who inserted Fernandez into the lineup after starting point guard MaryKate O'Brienpicked up a pair of quick fouls and was not entirely sure what to expect. "We knew she was good, that was amazing. She made a huge difference when she came into the game and really got us moving."

Fernandez was not the game's leading scorer—that distinction belonged to Vassar's Caitlin Drakeley, who put up a career-high 32 points along with seven rebounds. But the Ephs held the other Brewers to just 10-of-37 (27.0%) shooting while getting great production from their bench (45 points and 22 of the team's 40 rebounds). "I'm happy with the depth of our team," said Manning, who noted that her team's game plan was built partially on the fact that Vassar dressed only eight players. "We really wanted to control the pace and take advantage of their lack of depth," said Manning. "Our goal was to push the tempo and try to run them all game."

The Ephs stamped their authority on the contest with a 12-0 run that spanned both halves and turned a one-basket match into a more comfortable affair for the Ephs, whose lead never shrank lower than five in the second half and ballooned to as large as 18 with 2:21 remaining before a late Vassar run ate into some of their advantage.

Though the Ephs started the game with a sizable amount of energy, they struggled to maintain consistent possession and did not score a field goal until Fernandez made a layup after nearly four-and-a-half minutes of play. In between, there were plenty of whistles to slow the Ephs' rhythm "We did get in very early foul trouble," said Manning of her team's start. "So we went to our bench early and they really came through.

Indeed, fouls by the Ephs helped keep the game close: though they held Vassar to just six field goals in the first half, the Brewers took full advantage of the Ephs' 14 personal fouls by shooting 15-of-17 from the line in the period. But a hot shooting stretch from Cook, who scored eight points and added an assist in the final minute of the first half and the first minute of the second, helped the Ephs overcome their early foul issues and start 2-0 for the fifth straight season.

"We still have lot that we need to build on," said Manning, reflecting on the importance of an early-season victory over a familiar foe. "But it felt good to get this one."