West Massachusetts News

Williams Starts Daytona Beach Shootout Strong, Topping Hood 67-56

 Due in large part to a few big scoring runs, Williams (7-4, 0-0, NESCAC) maintained a strong lead throughout the game, holding off Hood (4-8, 1-3, MAC Commonwealth) to win 67-56. 

The Hood College Blazers came into the final period facing a fifteen point deficit, but didn't back down, scoring ten points to the Ephs' three in the first four minutes of the quarter. With momentum on their side, they tried to narrow the gap, but Williams picked up their intensity and responded to every Hood bucket thereafter. Getting into the bonus at 4:12, the Ephs were especially punishing at the free throw line, gaining ten of their eighteen fourth quarter points from the stripe. 

The game began fairly evenly matched. Williams made a pair of threes and a layup while Hood responded with eight points of their own. Hood kept at it on the offensive end and scored three more, bringing the score to 11-8 Hood with about five minutes to play. 
The Ephs shored up their defensive effort and kept the Blazers scoreless for the remainder of the quarter, but scored six points from a few different spots to bring the score to 14-11 at the beginning of the second. 

Arianna Gerig kept the run going, scoring six from layups and foul shots as the quarter got underway. After Williams went on a 14-0 run topped off by a layup from Maddy Mandyck, Hood was able to get things going off the drive, scoring a pair of layups. 

The Blazers went on a 7-1 run of their own to end the quarter, capitalizing on Williams turnovers. Gerig scored the last point of the half from the line. 

The Ephs went on an 8-0 run to start the third quarter, pushing the pace and scoring on the fast break. They were also able to pick up eight offensive rebounds, shooting twenty shots to Hood's eighteen and out-scoring the Blazers by six. 

In the fourth, Williams "Hung tough when momentum shifted," said head coach Pat Manning. Though the Blazers got within six in the final two minutes, the Ephs took care of the ball and made their free throws to round the game out 67-56. 

Coach Manning highlighted a few players following the game, noting that while "We didn't execute as cleanly as we wanted to, Maddy came up big for us, both on the boards and with smart plays offensively. Devin did a good job in crunch time taking care of the ball. Mia and Ari came up with some big baskets for us as well. Cortland too, she played great defense." 

When asked about what might have led to the execution issues, Manning said, "We were just coming off finals, and haven't had much practice time, so we're not as sharp as we want. Hood plays aggressive D, and they go for steals and deflections constantly, so we just weren't smooth out there. Overall, I think we handled the ball well, but defensively we gave up some easy hoops."

A bright spot was rebounding. "Second half we focused on rebounding," said Manning. "We out-rebounded them by fourteen, and in the first half they had us by one [board]. I think rebounds were key in the second half, especially O-boards, which we finished [the game] with 20," said Manning on the Ephs' 53 rebounds to Hood's 39. 

Coach Manning was confident about the team's mindset going into the game tomorrow, saying "For us we look at this as a NESCAC weekend, where whatever happens on Friday doesn't matter— you have to clear your head and prepare for a whole new team. That's where our mindset is, we're going to get back on track and be better tomorrow. We're looking for better execution overall tomorrow. This is our last chance for back-to-back play before we start conference games. It's really important that we're stronger on the second day."

The Ephs will play their second and final tournament contest tomorrow, against Southern Virginia University at 3PM EST. 

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