NEW LONDON, Conn.—The situation was all too familiar. For the second year in a row, the Williams women's basketball team played its penultimate game of the season in Connecticut College's Luce Field House. For the second year in a row, they arrived in New London with three conference losses and a shot at a home playoff game on the line.

In 2014, the Camels beat the Ephs by 15; Williams finished tied for fifth in the conference, then traveled to Bowdoin and bowed out of the NESCAC tournament and lost in the quarterfinals.

Tonight, though, the Ephs (18-5, 6-3 NESCAC) took another step towards erasing memories of last season's disappointing finish, beating Conn (15-8, 5-4 NESCAC) by a 78-69 to guarantee themselves a game in Chandler Gym next weekend against these very same Camels. In the process, the Ephs picked up their fourth win in five games, with their only loss in that stretch a four-point technical knockout to No. 4 Tufts. "We got it this time," said Williams coach Pat Manning on her team's avenging of last year's loss. "Conn is a solid team, and they can come at you in a lot of ways."

Well, so can the Ephs. Kellie Macdonald led the Ephs with 18 points and tied a season-high with four assists to go along with six rebounds—"One of the best games she's played this year," said Manning. Macdonald's fellow senior and co-captain Ellen Cook chipped in with nine points, including a quartet of clutch free throws to salt things away after the Camels pulled to within six points with a minute to go.

The real star of the game, though, was the Williams bench. Led by Lauren McCall, who scored 13 points in 20 minutes and made all four of her three-point attempts, the Eph reserves combined to outscore the Camels' subs by a critical 16-point margin (27-11). The points came at critical moments, too: when the Ephs trailed by five early in the first half, a pair of threes from McCall, a long ball from Jane Thompson and a jumper from Lydia Zaleski sparked the Ephs' deficit-reversing 11-2 run. And when Conn closed to within a basket with just over five minutes to play, the Williams bench responded again, this time with an 8-0 run that proved decisive. "I'm able to sub in a lot of different ways," said Manning on her team's depth. "When people like Lauren and Lydia and Kristin [Fechtelkotter] can come off the bench and make an immediate difference, it's such a lift."

The Ephs now head to Middletown, where they will take on Little Three rival Wesleyan in their regular season finale. Meanwhile, the Ephs will allow themselves to look ahead to a rematch with the Camels—and a shot at finishing out their home slate with a win. "Last week['s loss to Tufts] was a heartbreaker," said Manning. "Our whole team really wanted one more game for our seniors."