WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's basketball team fell at host Williams College, 52-42, this evening in the first night of the Shooting Touch Women's Basketball Tournament at Chandler Gymnasium in Williamstown, Mass.
The Lyons slip to 3-4 on the season, while the Ephs improve to 5-2.
Williams shot 38% (19-50) from the floor for the game and was 5-12 (41.7%) from long range, while Wheaton managed a 27.8% (15-54) mark, including 1-7 (14.3%) from three-point range.
Junior guard Abby Fernandes (Assonet, Mass.) led the Lyons with 10 points and added five rebounds, an assist and a steal, while sophomore guard Kiki Walters (Fleetwood, Pa.) netted eight points to go with five rebounds and two steals. Sophomore forward Nasha Arnold (North Reading, Mass.) contributed with seven points, eight rebounds, an assist, a steal and a blocked shot.
Junior guard Arianna Gerig (Westport, Conn.) led all scorers for the Ephs with 18 points and grabbed five rebounds, handed out a game-high five assists and blocked a shot. Junior guard Kate Keenan (Foxboro, Mass.) scored 12 points in addition to a rebound, while junior guard Cortland McBarron (Fair Haven, N.J.) ripped down a game-high 10 boards to go with two points, an assist and a steal.
Williams never trailed in the game and opened a 9-2 lead with 4:40 left in the opening quarter, fueled by seven points from Gerig.
First year guard Tatum Young (Forsyth, Ill.) interrupted a five-point run by the home team with a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 9-4 for Wheaton with 4:22 showing on the first quarter clock. The Ephs scored seven of the final eight points of the quarter, including a jumper at the buzzer from first year guard Tatum Leuenberger (Sunnyvale, Calif.) to give Williams a 16-5 lead at the end of one quarter of play.
The Ephs increased their lead to 25-9 following a 9-4 burst to begin the second quarter, capped by a three-pointer from Gerig at the 5:11 mark of the second period.
The Lyons ripped off six straight points, including four from senior forward Emma Kiernan (Wayland, Mass.), to cut the deficit to 25-15 with 3:11 to go in the quarter. Walters later knocked down a jumper for Wheaton to maintain the margin at 30-20 with 66 seconds remaining in the first half. Junior forward Izzy Sullivan (New York, N.Y.) drilled a trifecta with 46 ticks left in the second quarter to give Williams a 33-20 advantage heading into the break.
Fernandes sank a jumper with 4:23 left in the third quarter to keep the Lyons within 39-26, before the Ephs scored seven unanswered points to take their biggest lead of the night at 46-26 with 2:20 to go in the period.
Arnold capped a six-point blitz for Wheaton to cut the deficit to 46-32 before the end of the quarter.
The Lyons continued their momentum into the fourth quarter with a 7-2 run capped by a Walters layup at 4:29 to pull them within single digits (48-39) for the first time since the opening quarter.
The teams combined to score just five points the rest of the way before Williams settled for a 52-42 win.
Wheaton returns to play tomorrow in Williamstown, taking on Middlebury College for a 1:00 p.m. tip-off, while the Ephs host Babson College at 3:00 p.m.
