By Gordon Mann
D3sports.com

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Williams head coach Pat Manning knew she had a good thing going in spring 2009. She had six recruits who would matriculate that fall to hopefully help the Ephs return to the NCAA Tournament. "I knew when they all said yes, that they were going to come to Williams, way back in their recruiting, I was like, 'I can’t wait. I get to coach them for four years.' "

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Six months later Williams' roster included those six freshmen: Claire Baecher, Jen Borderud, Stephanie Browne, Jennie Harding, Danny Rainer and Grace Rehnquist.

At schools like Williams, coaches usually don't worry about their players not making the grades. But there are plenty of other attractions to draw away a student's attention, including other sports. Baecher wasn't drawn to Williams by its basketball program. She was interested in the Ephs' ultimate frisbee program, but she decided to see an Ephs basketball game at Bowdoin in her home town of Brunswick, Maine.

To learn more about Baecher's recruiting trip and her passion for ultimate frisbee, watch our interview with her.

The Ephs didn't exactly sell themselves on the court. "We actually got murdered," remembers Manning. Final score – Bowdoin 91, Williams 58.

But after the game, Manning hosted an alumni reception where the players talked about the program. Baecher liked what she heard. "In my senior year, I was kind of feeling burnt out on basketball," she remembers. "It wasn’t so much the game as the event afterwards, being able to talk to the players and that was really what convinced me."

The six freshmen hit the ground running. Harding started 19 games at guard and played more minutes per game than all but one teammate. Baecher led the team in blocks (53), a sign of things to come. Rainer, Rehnquist and Broderud played in at least 20 games. The youth infusion helped the Ephs reach the NCAA Tournament where they won their first two games on the road at Ithaca. Williams lost to archrival and eventual Final Four participant Amherst 71-66, but there was a lot for the Ephs to like.

The next season brought more success, but a less satisfying ending. Williams won 19 of 20 to start the year, but dropped three of four to close the regular season and bowed to Amherst in the NESCAC semifinals. The Ephs did enough to earn another at-large bid to the NCAA tournament so they headed to Rochester, N.Y., for a first round NCAA game against Muhlenberg. Williams was poised for another NCAA tournament victory when Muhlenberg All-American Alexander Chili hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left to break the Ephs' hearts and end their season, 64-63.

At that point, Baecher had established herself as one of Williams' top players. She finished second on the team in scoring, third in rebounding and swatted away another 51 shots. Even in the disappointing NCAA tournament loss, Baecher led Williams with 21 points.

Grace Rehnquist and her fellow seniors are fired up for the Final Four. Williams athletics file photo

The next year Williams hit one of those pitfalls that could derail a team. The Ephs had a 14-1 record when they played a January conference game against Wesleyan. Williams won the game, but lost Baecher to a season-ending injury. Then the Ephs lost their next game to Connecticut College 81-72 and then they lost enough of their remaining games to miss out on an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Colby edged Williams 61-59 in the first round of the NESCAC tournament, leaving the class of 2013 with one more chance to deliver on the promise that Manning saw in fall 2009.

Top 25 voters slotted Williams 23rd in the country to start this season, a respectful showing for a team that missed last year's NCAA tournament. The Ephs started strong again with 13 wins in their first 15 games. Then they pasted nationally ranked Babson 62-42 to show they could make noise on a national stage.

In that game Baecher more than held her own against Babson All-American center Sarah Collins, tallying 12 points and five rebounds in 23 minutes. Baecher is 6-3 but plays the post position differently than traditional centers, like Collins. On offense she is comfortable playing on the wing, receiving the ball 15 feet away from the rim and either rotating it to an open guard or driving to the basket. Williams runs a motion offense that might put Baecher on the block or let her handle the ball farther away. Her unique skill set allows Manning to use her any way she wants.

"It's awesome because you can just set anything up. You can run any play," Manning observes. "She breaks [the opponent's] press. She can play any position. I have so much confidence in her. She’s so versatile."

Creativity is not necessary on defense. Baecher and Danny Rainer use their length and forwards like sophomore Ellen Cook use their strength to frustration opponents near the rim. Whitman can attest to that since Williams rejected 20 of its shots in Saturday’s regional final.

Rainer is another versatile player who plays like a guard, leading the team in assists and occasionally defending the opponent’s guards on the perimeter. Only when you see Rainer operate in the post or hit a 10-foot baseline jump shot do you look down at the roster and notice she is a six-foot forward.

Senior Jennie Harding played all but two minutes last weekend. Williams athletics file photo

Jennie Harding is the third senior in the starting lineup and, in some ways, the most critical to Williams' chances to win a national championship this weekend. Her shooting (49 percent from three) and ball-handling skills will determine whether DePauw can frustrate the Ephs with a full court press or sag off their shooters in their half court defense.

Last weekend Williams' seniors put their skills on full display. On Friday night Baecher paced Williams in a thrilling 64-60 overtime win against Ithaca with 19 points and 10 rebounds in 43 minutes. Harding hit a three-pointer to give Williams a 62-57 lead with fifty seconds left. Rainer put the game away when Ithaca focused too much on Baecher and Rainer drove to the basket for an uncontested layup.

On Saturday Danny and her teammates had a lot more open looks against Whitman. The Ephs shot 53 percent in the first half and built a 41-22 lead behind Rainer's 13 points. The Missionaries cut the Ephs' lead to seven, but Rainer hit a jumper and a layup on consecutive possessions to deny the rally. Rehnquist added a jumper and two free throws in the final minutes and Williams' six seniors sealed the school's first trip to the NCAA women's basketball Final Four.

"For six kids to come in, it's not very common, for six kids to come in and stay for four years. Things can happen," says Manning. "But these six have stayed and stayed close and they're tighter and tighter and tighter."

Better and better, too.