WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS. – The Williams College Ephs (6-4, 0-0, NESCAC) fell to the Wesleyan University Cardinals (5-3, 0-0, NESCAC) today 70-62.
The Cardinals outscored the Ephs until the 4th quarter, but the Ephs only beat the Cardinals by 2 baskets in the 4thquarter. Arianna Gerig finished the day with 20 points and 9 rebounds, Mairi Smith had 10 points and 8 rebounds, and Cortland McBarron finished with 9 points and 10 rebounds.
In the 1st quarter, the Cardinals outscored the Ephs 20-11 utilizing fast break lay-ups and their 3-point shooters on the left side of the arc. Ellie Tounkara took the ball to the basket, faked a pass right to a teammate stationed on the arc, and took it up left for a 2 after fooling her defender. To end the quarter, Arianna Gerig took the ball in for a layup, beating the buzzer.
In the key, Mairi Smith dribbled twice and then jumped up to score the basket and make the game 27-17 with the Cardinals still leading. The next Eph scoring attempt, Logan Coster went up on the baseline and then drained the ball for 2. Sarah Batra made a 3-pointer from the top of the arc to score the Ephs their last basket of the quarter. The half ended 37-26 with the Cardinals in the lead.
Taking the game from 43-30 to 47-36 in the 3rd quarter, Arianna Gerig in back-to-back-to-back Eph scoring attempts dribbled in against Cardinal defenders and floated the ball into the basket. After a steal by Cortland McBarron on defense, McBarron’s following offensive rebound allowed Arianna Gerig to pass behind her to Ellie Tounkara who drained a 3-pointer for the Ephs, bringing the Ephs within five, 51-46, Cardinals leading.
The Ephs went into the 4th quarter down by twelve, 58-46. Taking the game from 60-46 to 60-52, Arianna Gerig passed the ball to Cortland McBarron for a baseline 2, Tatum Leuenberger drained a 3 pointer, and then Leuenberger netted a free throw in the following play. Off of a defensive rebound, Ellie Tounkara took the ball to the basket on a fast break and made a quick pass to Hanorah Murphy who was coming in from the left. Hanorah Murphy put the ball up for 2 to make the game 61-56 Cardinals.
Eph head coach Pat Manning commented, “We did not execute today on either end of the court. We did a better job rebounding in the second half but we let them build the lead with our poor transition defense. We kept fighting, but things just weren’t falling for us on the offensive end. I give Wesleyan a lot of credit: they were ready, intense, and fired up. We played a little tentatively. We’ll regroup and start again in New York next week. It was a solid first semester, but not one of our best efforts today. We’ll look at film and keep working.”
For their next couple of games, the Ephs will be traveling to New York City to play in the New York City Tournament. The first match up is against Millsaps at 11am on Tuesday the 19th of December, and the second will be against Berry College on the 20th at 11am.
