WILLIAMSTOWN, MA—Playing at full strength for the first time in two months, the Williams women's basketball team got about as complete a team effort as imaginable on Friday evening.

For the first time this season, all twelve Ephs notched at least one point, and Pat Manning's squad never trailed on its way to a 71-37 victory over Bates at Chandler Gym. With the victory, coupled with Connecticut College's loss to Amherst, the Ephs (17-4, 5-2 NESCAC) moved into sole possession of fourth place in the conference, a spot that would give them a home playoff game if they can hold it to the end of the season.

The last-place Bobcats (9-11, 0-7 NESCAC) fell to Williams for the fifth straight time; they last defeated the Ephs in the 2010 conference quarterfinals.

Remarkably, no Eph scored more than 10 points, a mark reached by both Devon Caveney andAmanni Fernandez. Bates' Nina Davenport led all scorers with 14 points.

Fernandez played a big role in staking the Ephs to a 15-point lead at halftime, twice stealing passes after failed Williams possessions and converting them into easy buckets. She also found Caveney wide open on the wing for a three pointer to open the scoring for the evening, and, along withEllen Cook, kept the Ephs' offensive tempo high after each of the Bobcats' 13 first-half turnovers. "We knew we wanted to run," said Manning. "That's what we worked on all week: just get out and go. We really wanted to try to get it so they couldn't set up their D, and just attack."

On the flip side, the Ephs deployed a smothering man-defense scheme against Bates, forcing the Bobcats into launching a flurry of unfavorable three-point attempts. On the occasions that they were able to generate chances in the paint, Allie Coppola and Davenport were able to provide a deft finishing touch. But while the Bobcats out-rebounded the Ephs 21-14 in the half, just three of those were offensive boards, a reflection of the combined contributions the Ephs got at the post from Katie Litman, Oge Uwanaka and Kellie Macdonald. "It was the type of game where we were able to use different rotations [on defense]," said Manning. "I was really pleased with our execution on both ends."

The Ephs quickly put the game out of reach in the second half, extending their lead to 21 when Uwanaka collected a pass from Macdonald and finished a slick drive down the lane to make the score 47-26. That was already more than they needed, as it turned out: the Ephs yielded just four field goals in the second half, as Kristin Fechtelkotter collected 11 (nine defensive) rebounds in just 12 minutes, buoying the Ephs to a reversal of their first-half deficit in that category. More often than not, Fechtelkotter's boards ended up in the arms of Lydia Zaleski, who scored nine points in 12 minutes of her own off the bench. "Lydia and Kristin work well together," observed Manning.

Up next for the Ephs is a showdown tomorrow afternoon against first-place Tufts, which narrowly defeated Hamilton in overtime on Friday evening to remain unbeaten in the NESCAC. The contest is also the Ephs' Senior Day, with graduating co-captains Cook and Macdonald scheduled to be honored in a ceremony prior to the game's 3pm start.