By: Zach Perbeck

NEW LONDON, Conn. - The Connecticut College women's basketball team was narrowly edged by NESCAC foe Williams College in a closely contested overtime battle by a score of 47-48 on Friday night.
 
The Camels used a strong second quarter to propel themselves to a halftime lead after a slow start to the contest. Both teams featured strong defenses that forced numerous turnovers and shut down the opposing offense. The Ephs found themselves ahead at the end of the first quarter thanks to nine points from Arianna Gerig, who would finish the night with a game-high 24 points.

Despite a four-point deficit after a slow starting first quarter, junior Molly Cronin (Wellesley, Mass.) propelled her team into the lead with eight points in the period, along with six more from freshman Tiffani Bartee (Midlothain, Va.) which gave Connecticut College a six point lead heading into halftime and on the heels of one of the team's best quarters of the season.
 
The third quarter was very similar to the first, with both teams struggling to find offense the Camels were unable to pull away and the Ephs could not manage to bring the game back to a tie. The fourth quarter started with Connecticut College leading by five points and it seemed that the first team to score 40 would be the victor. With just over three minutes remaining in regulation, Williams's Ellie Tounkara connected on a jump shot to finally give her team the lead by a score of 41-40 and the momentum remained steadily in the hands of the Ephs. A layup by Conn junior Jaycie Rojik (Scituate, Mass.) regained the lead for the Camels on the next possession of what looked like a game that would go down to the absolute last second. A free throw to tie the game and a layup for Williams would give the Ephs a two-point lead with just over a minute left. It was not until sophomore Aislinn McMahon (Andover, Mass.) connected on two clutch free throws with 49 seconds remaining to tie the game once again and send the game to an overtime period.
 
Overtime was a true testament to how the game was played, both defenses shutting down their opponents and leading to a total of seven points being scored in the period. Two free throws from senior Emily Tripp (Westport, Mass.) gave the Camels a one-point lead with just under two minutes to go but that would be the end of the scoring for Connecticut College. A layup by Gerig with 54 seconds remaining put Williams ahead by what would be the final score of the game, 48-47.
 
Gerig led the Ephs with 24 points to go along with eight rebounds while Maddy Mandyck added eight points and 12 rebounds of her own. For Connecticut College, sophomore Rebecca Oberman-Levine (Hamden, Conn.) led the way with 10 points and 11 rebounds while Bartee added eight points and eight rebounds as well.
 
The Ephs shot at a much more efficient clip than the Camels, connecting on 34.5% of their total shots compared to just 26.9% for Connecticut College. The Camels shot the ball at a much better clip from deep, connecting on 23.5% of their three-pointers while Williams only managed an 11.8% success from beyond the arc. The Camels led the Ephs in free-throw percentage as well, 87.5% to 60%. Williams narrowly outrebounded Conn by a total of 46-41 but the Camels led in assists 9-7. Lastly, the Ephs turned the ball over 24 times while the Camels turned the ball over 20 times themselves.
 
Connecticut College (3-14, NESCAC 1-4) will next host Middlebury on Sunday, January 28th, at 2:00 p.m. in another NESCAC matchup.