WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS. – The Williams College Ephs (6-2, 0-0, NESCAC) beat the Babson College Beavers (4-4, 0-0, NEWMAC) today 70-60.
A strong defensive showing in the second allowed the Ephs to outscore the Beavers 20-6. Arianna Gerig achieved a double double and was named to the Shooting Touch All-Tournament team today with 28 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists. Cortland McBarron had 10 rebounds and 8 points, Mairi Smith scored 10 points, and Ellie Tounkara scored 9 for the Ephs. Ephs head coach Pat Manning said, “Today was an all-around team win. Babson is a really explosive team with explosive point guards who have the ability to shoot from the outside and come back at any time. We stuck to our plan and it worked today.
Both teams scored evenly in the 1st quarter. Mairi Smith provided her teammate with an offensive screen and then turned around right under the basket to rebound the ball and put it back up for the basket, continuing the Ephs lead 13-11. The Ephs only trailed behind the Beavers by 2 at the end of the quarter when Arianna Gerig drove into the key and from under the basket bounced passed to Cortland McBarron who made a quick cut to the basket and put the ball up for 2.
The Ephs’ scoring was truly a team effort in the 2nd quarter. The Ephs had a 13-point run before the Beavers scored a basket. Although the run Beavers broke the run with a 2-pointer, in back-to-back Ephs’ scoring attempts before and after the break, Tatum Leuenberger scored open 3-pointers. In one play, Tatum Leuenberger stole the ball from the Beavers on defense, passed to Ellie Tounkara, Tounkara passed to Arianna Gerig, and Gerig passed it back to Leuenberger for a 3. The Ephs’ defense kept the Beavers offense to only 6 points, making the game now 35-23 with the Ephs leading.
The Beavers outscored the Ephs in the 3rd quarter 19-15 which made the Ephs’ lead going into the 4th smaller than before. Arianna Gerig scored 6 points in a row for the Ephs, bringing their lead from 39-31 to 45-31. And, Tatum Leuenberger had her third 3-pointer; that one was all net.
The Ephs held onto their lead in the 4th quarter. Mairi Smith faked a shot and passed to Cortland McBarron for a jump shot to make the Ephs’ lead 57-46. Mairi Smith also performed a pick-and-roll play for Arianna Gerig, Gerig passed to her, and Smith scored with a layup. The end of the game the Beavers fouled the Ephs for chances to get the ball to score, but the Ephs performed at the free throw line making 11 of 18 opportunities.
Arianna Gerig was named to the Shooting Touch All-Tournament team at the end of the game. And, Ephs head coach Pat Manning wanted to highlight that: “Ellie Tounkara performed well will on both sides of the court today, and Tatum Leuenberger had three key-timed threes that rose the energy. The free-throws today were important down the stretch of the game to keep us ahead too.”
After a long stretch of home games, the Ephs will be travelling to Northampton, MA. to play Smith College on Wednesday Dec the 6th at 7pm.
