WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass—All together now: shoot, shoot, shoot, you're the home team.

That contrived twist on the old lyric might well become the 2015 motto of the Williams women's basketball team. For the second time in a week, the Ephs shot at least 56% from the field in Chandler Gym and picked up a win in the process, this time overcoming a 12-point first half deficit to top Colby, 74-66. The Ephs (14-3, 2-2 NESCAC) converted 28 of their 50 attempts from the field tonight, after making 57.7% of their shots in Tuesday's win over Castleton. And while Bowdoin held them to 40% in a loss last night, that made today's victory that much sweeter. "This was a mental toughness win," said Williams coach Pat Manning on her team's rapid turnaround. "As much as last night was frustrating because we made some poor decisions."

The win was also the Ephs' third straight over the Mules (11-4, 2-2 NESCAC), who last beat Williams in the 2012 conference playoffs.

Like the rest of the Eph shooters, Ellen Cook was in fine form after last night's dispiriting home loss to Bowdoin, in which she ran into foul trouble and scored just seven points. Today, Cook did it all, leading all scorers with 28 points while contributing five rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks. Kellie Macdonald added 15 points and nine rebounds for the Ephs; she has now scored in double figures in six of her last seven games. "We were led by our captains today," affirmed Manning.

It was Cook who turned the tide of the game late in the first half. With the Mules leading the Ephs by nine and just over two minutes showing on the clock, Cook dribbled off a defender in front of the Colby bench and nailed a three, then stole pass on the ensuing Mule possession, raced the length of the court, scored and drew a foul. All told, Cook scored six points in 18 seconds. Suddenly, the Ephs trailed by just three, and when Amanni Fernandez banked home a mid-range floater with a second left in the half, they drew even at 37-37 going into the break after trailing since the game's first possession.

The Mules held a lead throughout the first half for the reason they usually do: three-point shooting. Colby entered the weekend fifth in the nation in three-point field goals per game, at 9.2, before making just 4 of 22 attempts from downtown in a narrow road win over Hamilton last night. This afternoon, they exploded for four threes inside of five minutes after the opening tip, and built a lead of as much as 12 points with eight minutes to go. Brooke Chandor, Carylanne Wolfington and Mia Diplock each hit a pair of shots from downtown for the Mules in the period. All three eventually finished with double-digit point totals, including a team-high 18 from Diplock, who rebounded from a scoreless evening against Hamilton. 

Colby's all-guard starting five also took care of the ball, committing just two turnovers in the first half.

By contrast, the Mules took nearly five minutes to score their first three of the second half, when Wolfington made a 23-footer in front of her bench to put Colby ahead, 48-46. They would make only one more three the rest of the game. "That's their style. We knew that," said Manning on the Mules' three-point shooting. "I really give my team a lot of credit for being able to adjust."

Unfortunately for Colby, Cook took over again just after they regained the lead. The Eph co-captain scored the game's next eight points, then dished to Macdonald for a spinning layup to complete a decisive 10-0 run for the Ephs.

Though the Mules had their chances to come back late, particularly when Cook picked up her fourth foul with a little over five minutes left, they were doomed by a poor run of free throw shooting down the stretch: after Cook's foul, they were just 4 for 13 from the line, and shot just 50% (12-24) on foul shots overall. A pair of free throws from Cook with 54 seconds left put the game out of reach.

Both teams have non-conference games up next. Colby will face the University of New England at home on January 22, while the Ephs will host nemesis Amherst in Chandler Gym on Wednesday evening. The Ephs lost their conference game to Amherst last Saturday, 77-51.