WILLIAMSTOWN, MA—A suffocating defensive performance paced the Williams women's basketball team to 64-40 victory over Worcester State in the opening match of the Williams Tip-Off Classic on Friday evening. The Ephs (4-0) won their seventh straight home opener with a performance that, while not quite at the level of their 86-49 dismantling of Smith on Tuesday, was enough for them to knock off the Lancers (2-2).

Leading the way for the Ephs was Devon Caveney, who scored 13 of her game-high 17 points in the second half to help Williams pull away from Worcester State for good. In a span of just under three minutes, Caveney hit three three-pointers—all off open looks garnered as a result of the Ephs' patient ball movement and consistent presence in the paint—to drive an 11-0 Williams run that put the Ephs up 46-24 and essentially sealed the outcome with 10 minutes left to play.

Shannen El-Qasem paced the Lancers with 16 points (on 5-of-9 shooting) and nine rebounds, while Nani Perez, whose speed proved a consistent thorn in the Ephs side on the night, chipped in with eight points and five rebounds.

The first half was a methodically paced and low-scoring affair, as both sides missed plenty of open looks and did well to disrupt the other's offensive flow. For two brief minutes early in the period, the Ephs looked like they had solved Worcester State's defense: a driving underhanded layup byAmanni Fernandez and a wide-open three from Lauren McCall following a Lancer travel punctuated a 9-0 run that saw the Ephs stretch their lead out to 14-4. From that point onwards, though, the two teams remained in lockstep on the scoreboard, trading buckets on irregular but even terms and heading into the break with the Ephs ahead by a 29-18 count and the two teams shooting a combined 29.3% (17-for-58) in the half.

Williams held the Lancers to just six field goals in the first half, continuing an early-season trend. In each of their first four games this season, the Ephs have held opponents to less than 23 points in the first half on average.

Though Worcester started off the second half with back-to-back baskets from Kiesha Jones and Perez to whittle the Eph lead to seven. But that was as close as they would come, as the Ephs, spurred by Caveney's hot hand, scored 17 of the next 19 points.

Both teams will conclude their weekends with games tomorrow afternoon at Chandler Gym. Worcester State will take on Misericordia at 1 p.m., while Williams squares off against cross-state rival Babson at 3 p.m.