A 71-59 road loss to Williams on Saturday dropped the women’s basketball team to fifth in the NESCAC standings, ending the team’s hopes of a home playoff game. The Cards will head back to Williams next Saturday for a first round NESCAC tournament match up.
Both squads entered the game knowing a victory would secure the fourth seed, and thus the opportunity to host the fifth seed in the opening round of the playoffs. In contrast to their first meeting this season–a defensive battle won by Williams 50-39 –both teams shot the ball well, each team eclipsing the 40 percent mark.
Williams pulled out the victory by getting to the free throw line more than twice as often as Wesleyan. While the Cards’ field goal and free throw percentages were both higher than those of the Ephs, Williams attempted 34 free throws to just 16 for the Cards.
Wesleyan controlled play in the first half, as the Cardinals shot nearly 50 percent from the field to jump out to a 37-29 halftime lead. Williams came out on fire in the second half, however, going on a 21-6 run that lasted over 10 minutes. The Cards kept the deficit around five points until the five minute mark, when Williams pulled away on its way to a 12-point victory.
Ali Fourney ’09 led all scorers with 22 points along with eight rebounds. Emilie Knight ’10 chipped in 12 points off the bench, matching her highest output of the season.
The fifth seed marks the Cards’ lowest seeding since the 2002 tournament, when that year’s seventh-seeded squad lost in the first round to Middlebury. Last season, the fourth-seeded Ephs and third-seeded Cards both lost in the semifinals.
Since the inception of the NESCAC tournament in the 2000-2001 season, the Cards have advanced to the semifinals on three occasions, while Williams has appeared in the semifinals in five of the six tournaments. Neither team has advanced to the finals. Saturday’s game will mark the first time the two programs have met in the playoffs.
In their two meetings this season, the Cards and Ephs played two distinctly different games, with Williams twice outlasting the Cards via second half scoring runs. Williams senior Maggie Miller has proved a handful for the Cards’ defense, averaging 14.5 points while playing no more than 28 minutes in either contest.
While Miller’s 17.1 points per game ranks fourth in scoring in NESCAC competition, Fourney sits right behind her in fifth, averaging 16.6 per game. Williams managed to silence Fourney in the first meeting, holding her to four points on 1-for-16 shooting. Undoubtedly, the play of Williams’ senior stalwart and Wesleyan’s sophomore standout will help determine which team advances.
Before heading to Williams, the Cards will closeout their regular season schedule with a non-conference contest at 7 p.m. tonight at Westfield State College.
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