Ephs grab tough road win in OT against Lehman, 79-77
Dominique de la Torre '08
WEST BRONX, NY- Chessie Jackson grabbed a clutch offensive rebound under the basket with five seconds left in overtime play before going up strong for a lay-up to put the Ephs ahead of Lehman College (5-6), 79-77. Coming off a three-week hiatus from game action, Williams (7-2) managed to dust off enough rust to tally a victory in their final match up of 2007.
With nineteen seconds remaining in regulation, and Williams behind 64-63, senior captain Dominique de la Torre was fouled and headed to the line with the opportunity to give her team a one-point lead. The Eph forward nailed her first free throw, but missed the second, and the teams headed into overtime with the score knotted at 64 apiece.
Williams scored the first four points of overtime, and mounted a five-point lead. As Lehman had done all game long, the Lightning climbed back into contention. Sally Nnanami scored three of her game-high 28 points to narrow the Ephs lead to 74-73. Jackson countered with a three-point shot of her own. With twenty seconds left on the clock, Williams mistakenly fouled the opposition. Kimberly Kelly coolly sank both of her free throws to tie the game once more, 77-77.
On the ensuing Eph possession, Niki Savagaeu drove hard to the basket and failed to capitalize on the lay-up. Jackson’s presence in the paint proved too great for the Lehman defense, as the freshman grabbed the offensive board for a put in to give Williams their seventh win of the season.
Jackson finished the game with a double-double, tallying 17 points and 11 rebounds. Fellow first-year Taylor Shea recorded a double-double as well with 13 points and a staggering 20 rebounds. Mika Peterman led the Ephs in scoring with 20 points, while Niki Savageau added 10 points and 7 assists. Whitney Livermore and de la Torre each chipped in 8 points.
In the first half it looked as though Williams might run away with the game. The first ten minutes were marked by mini-runs. Williams led 15-10 with 14:14 left to play before Lehman mounted a 7-0 run to regain the lead with 12:07 in regulation. The Ephs responded with intense defensive pressure, and kept the opposition scoreless from the 11:36 mark to the 4:32 mark. In this seven minute span Williams built a twelve point lead, 30-18. The Ephs let their lead dissipate, and held on to a slight 35-33 advantage at the break.
"I really feel like we relaxed a bit, " said Williams head coach Pat Manning. "Lehman is an athletic and explosive team, and they have the ability to come back in a hurry and that's exactly what they did. We just lost our focus for five or six minutes and didn't play solid defense."
Lehman built their own slight lead in the second half. Behind by eight points with ten minutes left in the second period, Williams fought back. Peterman scored five straight points, including a clutch three point shot, to put the Ephs ahead by two at 63-61 with 1:00 in regulation. The Lightning would not back down and forced overtime.
Manning said, "Down the stretch and in overtime we played tougher defense, and our rebounding kicked in. It was overall a more consistent effort, and Chessie [Jackson] and Taylor [Shea] were a big part of that."
Lehman’s Sally Nnamani led all scorers with 28 points, and grabbed 14 boards. Kimberly Kelly added 15 points and 8 rebounds, while Maria Loor notched 18 points. Monique Sampson also contributed with 7 points and a team-high 17 rebounds.
Williams will return to action when they host the Williams Winter Classic tournament starting January 4. Babson will face off against Drew in the first game at 6:00 p.m., and Williams will battle Gordon in the second game at 8:00 p.m. in Chandler Gymanisum.
