Williamstown, MASS.— Though Connecticut College (7-16, 1-9 NESCAC) came out to an early lead, Williams (17-7, 8-2 NESCAC) soon took control of the game. Shooting at a higher percentage, pulling down more rebounds, and notching more assists— the Ephs determined the pace all game, sailing to a 62-37 win.
Ball movement created the Ephs’ first bucket. On the left wing, Ryann Taylor passed cross-court to Cortland McBarron. She pivoted, and quickly sent the ball to Maddy Mandyck, who rose up for the first two points of the game. After the shot, the Camels retaliated, scoring twice in the lane and then from three to take a 7-2 lead. However, this would be the Camels’ last lead of the game. Taylor scored a jumper of her own, then Biesbrock sank threes on back-to-back possessions to take a three point advantage for the Ephs.
The Ephs kept their foot on the gas for the rest of the quarter. Devin Biesbrock buried yet another three and Arianna Gerig added two from the line. The Ephs out-rebounded the Camels and Mandyck tallied four blocks in the quarter, getting her fourth on Connecticut College’s last try.
Williams shot a perfect 3-3 from behind the arc in the second quarter. Biesbrock started it off with her fourth three of the game, after which Mia Holtze and Priscilla Singleton-Eriyo added a triple apiece. Taylor, Mandyck, and Gerig would also score in the quarter, which would end with a 6-0 Williams run to give the Ephs a 34-23 lead at the half.
Both teams had trouble getting things going in the third. Ryann Taylor scored the Ephs’ first points at 7:28 with a right-to-left crossover that left her with a wide open lane. While Connecticut College scored early in the quarter (9:28) with a layup, they wouldn’t score again until 5:06, which would be their last points in the quarter. Williams added on 12 more points throughout the quarter. Mia Holtze led the way with 8.
All 14 team members played this afternoon, and 3 more Ephs were added to the score sheet in the fourth quarter— Kaleisha Towle, Logan Coster, and Izzy Sullivan. Williams took the quarter 14-10, this time led by two layups and a jumper for Towle. The game’s final score was 62-37. Maddy Mandyck would end the game with a 12 point, 14 rebound double-double, with seven blocks and three assists to boot.
“I’m just really happy with our execution,” said Eph head coach Pat Manning on the 25-point win. “Devin came out on fire, hitting those four threes early in the first half, and Maddy was just dominant inside, controlling the boards and getting seven blocks. There were contributions from everyone. I’m just happy that we got to see other players get time— they work so hard every day. You don’t do this with just a few players. Teams are made in practice. For all our players to enter this game is so satisfying for me, because everybody works so hard every day.”
Coach Manning addressed the team’s main goals for the game, saying that Connecticut College has “a strong, solid post game, and they can hit some threes too. We wanted to make it as hard as possible for them to catch the ball inside, and I think overall we did a pretty good job. We also wanted to control the pace— I was happy with our execution on both ends.”
Looking back on the season, Manning identified defense and rebounding as the biggest points of improvement. “I think the most disappointing thing about last year was our defense,” she said. “We’re usually known for our defense, but it just wasn’t good enough. That was a major emphasis for us, and then obviously our rebounding… that’s still a work in progress, but we had 54 today. It’s definitely an area that we’re focusing on. Those two areas are our main thing. And then it’s just a sense of how we play together, knowing each other on the court and making good decisions.”
The Ephs are the #2 seed heading into the NESCAC championship, a feat that they last accomplished in 2013. When asked about what it meant to be so highly seeded, Manning said: “It’s just great. We were coming back from Covid, having to start over with basically a whole new team last year, and just a couple kids with playing experience. To see the growth that’s happened over the two years is just so rewarding. Our defense is back to what it used to be, and that was the hardest thing for us. Last year we lost games because our defense let us down, and this year we’re much more consistent on that end.”
The Ephs will play Bates next Saturday at 2PM in Chandler Gym, for the quarterfinal round of the NESCAC championship.
