WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – Taking advantage of their strong defensive play and ability to force turnovers, the Williams College Ephs (14-2, 2-2) defeated the Colby College Mules (5-11, 0-4) 71-54 today at Chandler Gymnasium.
After stopping Colby's first offensive attempt, Williams struck first with a fast break layup by Kellie Macdonald. Colby answered, however, with a three by Carylanne Wolfington. The teams stayed knotted for the next several minutes, trading buckets and defensive stops.
With 14 minutes remaining, Williams G Ellen Cook converted a three-point play off the fast break to put the Ephs up 13-11. However, Colby was unfazed and kept the score close, trading buckets for the next several minutes and clawing their way into the lead.
Desi Smith and Jen Nale hit two straight treys for the Mules, bringing the score to 28-23 and forcing an Eph timeout with 5:18 remaining in the half.
After a 1-2 showing from the free throw line by Eph G Ellen Cook, Colby responded with a jumper from the corner by Jen Nale to extend their lead to 30-24.
Williams would respond, however, launching into a 9-0 run, featuring two layups by Kellie Macdonald and a trey by freshman Lauren McCall, to end the half up 33-30.
At the half, Eph Ellen Cook led all scorers with 9 points, while Jen Nale led the Mules in scoring with 7. Despite being outrebounded 25-18 in the first half, the Ephs made up for it by forcing 7 turnovers and giving up none.
Coming out of the half, the Ephs continued their run with layups by Oge Uwanaka and Kellie Macdonald, extending their lead to 7 and forcing a Colby timeout only 45 seconds into the 2nd half.
Following the timeout, the Mules were unable to score on their possession, setting up another layup by Macdonald. Then Uwanaka finished in the paint off of an inbounds pass to bring the score to 41-30.
The Mules finally snapped the Ephs' 17-0 run with a Carylanne Wolfington layup with 16:35 remaining. The lead hovered around ten for the next several minutes.
With 10 minutes left, layups by Ephs Devon Caveny and Ellen Cook, as well as a three-pointer by Lauren McCall, put the Ephs up by 18, seriously quickening the pace of the game. The Mules got back to within 14 with a Wolfington trey and two buckets from Kate Parsons, but the Ephs put a stop to the developing run and held the margin around 15 for the rest of the game, ending with a final score of 71-54.
Williams freshman Lauren McCall led all scorers with 17 points in the contest, while Jen Nale led Colby with 12. The Ephs shot an impressive 47% from the field, while the Mules shot 35%. In addition, the Ephs registered 8 blocks and 10 steals, forcing a total of 15 turnovers by the Mules while only turning the ball over 5 times themselves.
Williams head coach Pat Manning said after the game: "We had a really successful weekend. We played aggressively on both ends of the floor, and with such a young team we need to be sure that we can do that on back to back days. Our intensity was great, our focus was great, Ellen [Cook] and Kellie [Macdonald] have really been leading the way. Just a couple of great team wins."
About the Ephs defensive play, Manning commented, "We take a lot of pride in our defense. We were able to get some good steals, and a lot of that was fueled by Ellen [Cook] and Devon [Caveney]…Defense is really our bread and butter."
Williams will host Amherst on January 22nd, and Colby will play Husson in Waterville on the 21st.