MIDDLEBURY, VT—For most of the month of January, the Williams women's basketball team found itself mired in an uneasy state of flux. Beginning with their NESCAC opener at Trinity three weeks ago, the Ephs would shoot well one game, then lose their touch in the next. They followed each win with a loss and each loss with a win.

On Friday evening, the Ephs finally broke the pattern, defeating Middlebury, 67-52, to earn their second straight win following last Saturday's grind-it-out effort against Hamilton. For the Panthers (10-9, 2-3 NESCAC), the loss contributed to a pair of dispiriting streaks: they have now lost eight in a row to the Ephs and have not beaten them at home since 2002. More immediately, tonight's loss was the Panthers' fourth in a row, with conference matchups against nationally-ranked Bowdoin and Amherst still on the horizon.

Both teams got balanced scoring efforts, with guards Devon Caveney and Sarah Kaufman leading their respective teams with 14 points apiece. But while seven players from the two teams scored in double-figures—four for the Panthers, three for the Ephs—it was Williams' secondary players that made the difference, outscoring the Panthers reserves by a resounding 20-0. "What was nice tonight was that we could really use our bench," said Williams coach Pat Manning, noting an unintended side effect on the team's 19 personal fouls. (The Ephs average 18.8 fouls per game, the most in the NESCAC.)

Bench woes meant trouble for Middlebury early. The Panthers' leading scorer, Elizabeth Knox, picked up a pair of fouls and headed to the bench after just three-and-a-half minutes. That helped the Ephs (16-4, 4-2 NESCAC) ease into the lead for most of the half, though Manning was not altogether pleased with her team's opening output. "I don't feel like we capitalized as much as we should have inside," said Manning on Knox's time on the bench. The Ephs and Panthers ended the half even on rebounds, with 16 apiece.

In Knox's absence, freshman Rachel Crews carried the Middlebury offense, at one point scoring seven points in a row to put the Panthers back on top. The two teams traded leads until late in the period, when Ellen Cook broke a 31-31 tie with a pair of steals and baskets within a 15-second span that brought her first-half point total to 11. Still the Ephs led by just two points heading into halftime.

After playing five consecutive halves of offensively uninspired basketball, the Ephs finally came alive early in the second period. Williams sprinted out to a 17-2 run that all but decided the game by the midpoint of the half. The stretch, which spanned just over seven minutes, was highly encouraging on both sides of the ball for Williams. Stout man coverage in their own end held the Panthers to just a single basket, a jumper for Knox that rolled in, in the half's first 7:30.

Meanwhile, the Ephs began to look confident shooting the ball, and did well to finish second chance opportunities. Caveney slipped under the basket to collect a Kellie Macdonald jumper from the rim and put home the layup. Amanni Fernandez drove into the lane and found a driving Oge Uwanaka in stride. And Caveney drilled a three off a screen and a feed from Cook, scarcely stopping to set her feet before launching her shot.

All in all, the effort represented a welcome change from the Ephs' last two games, in which they averaged a mere 52 points and appeared tentative offensively. "We talked about that this week," said Manning on the Ephs' shot selection. "We feel like we passed up some open shots in past games. We were much more active in the second half."

Next up for the Ephs is a home contest against Bates on Friday evening. During the game, the Ephs will be raising money as part of their "Play 4Kay" effort that helps fight women's cancers. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game. Tip-off is scheduled for 7pm.