Women's Basketball Falls to Williams, 58-42

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The Williams College women's basketball team posted a 58-42 win over visiting Bridgewater State University on Friday night at the Williams Invitational.

The host Ephs improve to 5-1 on the season with the victory, while the Bears fall to 1-4 with their fourth straight setback.

BSU freshman forward Destiny Fitzgerald was the only player in double figures as she scored a game-high 15 points on 6 of 9 shooting. Fitzgerald also grabbed four rebounds and blocked two shots.

Bridgewater State took an early lead against the Ephs. The Bears went up 10-4 on a jump shot by Fitzgerald with 5:46 remaining in the first. Williams responded with a 7-0 run capped off by an Amanni Fernandez layup to go up 11-10 with 1:14 left. At the end of the first quarter, the Ephs held a 13-12 advantage.

Williams and Bridgewater State traded baskets for the first few minutes of the second quarter until Williams went on a 7-0 run to bring the score to 27-20 with 2:15 remaining in the half. After a high-scoring final few minutes of the quarter, the Ephs went into halftime up 32-26 on the Bears.

In the first half, freshman Maggie Meehan led the Ephs with seven points. Fitzgerald paced Bridgewater State with nine. The Ephs shot 48% (12-25) from the field, while the Bears shot 42% (10-24) over the first 20 minutes.

The Ephs pulled away from the Bears early in the second half, scoring the first 12 points of the third quarter to go up 44-26 with 5:57 remaining in the quarter. The scoring slowed down over the rest of the third quarter, but the Ephs continued to maintain their lead, going into the fourth up 48-33. Williams outscored the Bears 10-9 in a low-scoring final period en route to a 16-point victory.

Freshman Mikaela Topper and Fernandez led the Ephs with nine points apiece. Fernandez also finished with eight rebounds, four assists and a steal.

BSU junior Sara DaSilva (Chelmsford, Mass.) contributed five points and a game-high five assists to go along with two rebounds and two steals, while junior Olivia DelGrosso (Ledyard, Conn.) tallied five points and five boards off the bench.

Williams held a 37 to 26 rebounding advantage including a 13-5 edge on the offensive glass. The Ephs shot 41% (23-56) and connected on just 5 of 20 (25%) three-point field goals.

The Bears shot 36% (16-45) from the floor and went 2-for-10 (20%) from behind the arc. Bridgewater scored just 16 points in the second half.

Both teams are back in action on Saturday afternoon at the Williams Invitational. The Bears take on Tufts University at one, while the Ephs battle the University of Rochester at three.