WEST HARTFORD, CT – The Williams College Ephs (1-0, 0-0, NESCAC) kicked their ’23-’24 season off with a win 78-67 in their first contest against the newly Division III University of Hartford Hawks (0-1, 0-0, Commonwealth Coast Conference) having dropped down from Division I.
With 2 minutes left in the first quarter, the Ephs built up momentum heading into the second, continuing to build a tall 11-point run. Although it was broken by a quick three by Hawks’ player Adrianna McCoy, the Ephs quickly racked up a different 15-point run during the rest of the second quarter. Arianna Gerig already had 17 points in the first half that turned into a 32-point day with 12 rebounds for the junior. Logan Coster finished out with a 20-point day in the scorebook. Eph head coach Pat Manning emphasized “The pace: a great second quarter, and our defense really turned it on.” Scoring during transitions, “We had a really go-group that forced many turnovers and steals with Arianna Gerig leading the charge along with Logan Coster and Tatum Leuenberger, awesome performances” for the first game of the season.
Early on in the first quarter, Ephs stayed in the game with key-timed free throws from Arianna Gerig and Cortland McBarron. The Hawks defense kept the Ephs under control, but cost them from breaking away with the score. The Ephs trailed the Hawks at the end of the first quarter, 14-12. Williams then went out won the second quarter 28-8. The Ephs scored 11 points off of Hawks turn-overs and created a strong showing in the paint, outscoring the Hawks 22-4.
The rest of the game was evenly matched with the Hawks taking the third and fourth quarters 14-11 and 31-27, butt the Ephs strong second quarter helped them keep the lead. The Ephs finished off with a 51.8 FG% while the Hawks drained 12-27 three-pointers. “We saw the Hawks’ young roster led by first-year Adrianna McCoy who scored 31 points with 6 of them being from the arc. Coach Manning said, “Hartford kept coming, putting up many threes,” also acknowledging that Ephs’ defense “made an adjustment … and just needed to be smoother with it.”
It is the first time both teams have seen one another at the DIII level with the Williams Ephs using their strong second quarter to beat the Hartford Hawks. Coach Manning noted, “Lots of credit to this team, they just joined the CCC (Commonwealth Coast Conference)as a new team with their division shift. They are a force to be reckoned with down the road.”
Catch the Eph’s next game at home in Williamstown this Saturday November 18th as they open the Morin Memorial Tournament at 6pm in Chandler Gymnasium against the Maine Maritime Academy Mariners.
