Ephs’ offense starts clicking for undefeated women’s hoops

WILLIAMSTOWN – Williams College women’s hoops have endured over 20 years of success under the helm of Pat Manning – and this season appears to be no different, as the Ephs’ offense got rolling last Sunday.

The Ephs (4-0) knocked down five of 11 three-pointers in the first half against a scrappy MCLA team before easily defeating the Trailblazers, 65-31.

“We’ve really been struggling on the offensive end in the first three games,” said Manning, as the Ephs scored only 44 points against Springfield. “The offense didn’t click – I felt [today] it was a big step today in our transition game. We had Kellie Macdonald back, so that made a difference.”

Macdonald, the junior small forward from Danvers, Mass., knocked down two three-pointers in the first half before finishing with eight point,s while point guard Jennie Harding made the offense go in the Ephs’ transition game.

Harding hit a pair of three-pointers in the first half, on inside-out plays with post players Danny Rainer and Claire Baecher to help the Ephs build a 23-9 lead with 7:42 left in the first half.

“We feel like we have more pieces in place,” Manning said of her guard play. “MCLA plays really hard defense and are really aggressive – we knew they would double inside and wanted to draw them in so we could look for the kick out.”

The Ephs built a 37-16 lead at halftime, despite the ‘Blazers hustling for loose balls and picking up six offensive rebounds in the first half.

“We are trying to be scrappy and we are trying to cover a lot of space on the floor – with limited size,” said MCLA Head Coach Holly McGovern. “We didn’t want to double down – but if we didn’t it was going to go somewhere else.”

Williams’ Baecher controlled the inside in the second half with her size, as she finished with 17 points and five rebounds, while Rainer had eight points and nine boards.

“We watched film in our first three games, and our post [players] have been open but we weren’t finding them – and today we did,” Manning said.

Ephs guard Ellen Cook also shot the ball well; she finished with 14 points (6-11 FG) and four assists.

Williams as a team shot 28-64 from the field for 44 percent and 6-17 from behind the arc, moving the ball around the perimeter and through the high post.

“I thought we moved the ball very well today – it’s a very unselfish team,” Manning said of her Ephs. “We stressed to get the best shot in every possession and I was really proud on how we moved the ball – it was the best we played yet.”

The key play epitomizing the success of the Ephs’ offense on Sunday was Rainer in the high post directing traffic, moving the ball from the corner to the top of the key, where she took the pass and swung the ball over to Cook in the far corner, who drained the open three to put Williams up 55-26.

“The key for us is to stay in a good rhythm,” Manning said. “We had a good first half but we wanted to build on it in the second half – our goal is to put together 40 solid minutes.”

Posted by Tim Davis on November 29, 2012. Filed under College Sports,Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry