Women's Hoops Falls to 16th Ranked Williams, 89-63

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- The 16th ranked Williams College women's basketball team defeated the Bridgewater State Bears today 89-63 in the Williams Holiday Classic.  The win moves the Ephs to 5-0 on the year, while the Bears find themselves at 3-2.

Bridgewater State took the lead early. Just under four minutes into the game, Megan Boutilette had a nice offensive rebound, took one dribble, and finished the layup to give the Bears the four-point lead.  A nice shot from the right elbow from Jenna Williamson pushed the lead to six. 

Grace Rehnquist, however, took the game over as she scored 11 straight points for the Ephs. She hit a big three from the right side and finished a nice pass inside on the following possession.  When Ciara Shaughnessy responded with a long ball for the Bears, Rehnquist responded with two more from the top left part of the arc to cut the lead to two. Rehnquist then had a beautiful alley-oop pass to Claire Baecher, who finished the layup for another bucket.  Rehnquist hit two free throws to tie the game up at 21 with just under ten to play, and when Kellie Macdonald swooshed a beautiful three from the right baseline on the next possession, the Ephs found themselves with their first lead of the game.

The Ephs added to their lead, but the Bears fought back.  Shelly DePina had a nice drive to the hoop to cut the Eph lead to five, and on the following possession, Boutilette added another bucket in the paint.  DePina knocked down a three from the top left to tie the game up at 30 with just over five remaining.

The Ephs, however, finished the half on an 18-4 run led by two lay-ups from Lisa Jaris, a jump shot and a driving hoop from Jill Greenberg, and a long-ball and hoop in the paint from Baecher.  The Ephs went into the locker room with the 48-34 lead.

The second half started with the momentum on the Ephs' side, and they continued to add to their lead.  The Bears, however, were able to pull within 11.  With the Ephs up 16, Michaela Cosby hit two jump shots and Monica-Sabina Bharoocha added a layup to make the lead 58-47 with 14 minutes to play.   Despite a lot of fight from the Bears on both the offensive and defensive ends, they were not able to overcome the double digits deficit as the Ephs ran away with the game.

Leading the way for the Bears tonight was DePina with 18 points.  Cosby and Williamson were also both in double digits with 12 points each.  The team shot 43.5% from the field.

Baecher led the way for the Ephs with a double double – 25 points and 10 rebounds.  Rehnquist added 19 off the bench and Greenberg had another 16 for the Ephs, who shot 57.1% on the night.

With the win, the Ephs move on to play in the tournament's Championship Game, which is tomorrow at 3:00.  The Bears will play in the Consolation Game at 1:00.  Their opponents will be determined by tonight's second matchup between Middlebury and Daemen College.