Youngsters guide Ephs to 84-74 win over UNE

Box Score

BABSON PARK, MA — First-year Chessie Jackson scored 25 points Sunday and classmates Jessica Harris and Taylor Shea added 19 and 14, respectively, to lead the Williams College women’s basketball team to an 84-74 victory over the University of New England in the consolation final of the Babson College Invitational Tournament.

Jackson, who scored 42 points in the two games, was named to the All-Tournament team. The win was Williams first of the season and even its mark at 1-1. The Ephs host Springfield at the Chandler Gymnasium Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m.

“I felt we took a giant step forward today,” Ephs head coach Pat Manning said. “Our intensity was much better. In the first half, everything went our way, but made me really happy about this win was our composure down the stretch when we had four first-years on the floor and they had cut our lead to two. It seemed like everyone stepped up in those last 10 minutes.”

All total, first years accounted for 60 of the Ephs’ 84 points in the win. Jackson was 10 of 15 from the floor and also had nine rebounds and four blocks. Harris came off the bench to post a double-double in her second collegiate game, adding a team-high 11 rebounds to her 19 points. Shea was 6 of 10 from the floor en route to her 14-point game, and Jamie Neal started at the two-guard as junior captain Mika Peterman slid over to the point for injured starter Niki Savageau.

Williams dominated the first half, leading by as many as 21 on two occasions before heading into the locker room with a 44-30 advantage. UNE then fought back in the second half, getting to within six with 12 minutes remaining and later to within three on a jumper by junior Annie Foster with eight minutes to play.

First-year Kylie Bragdon later cut it to just two, 71-69, with 4:10 on the clock, but Williams rattled off six straight points over the next 1:40 to pull away for good. Jackson ignited the run with a jumper just inside four minutes, while Harris  and Neal each added buckets with 3:15 and 2:30 left, respectively.

“UNE was a very scrappy team, they just kept coming at us,” Manning said. “But we had so many great contributions. Chessie had a spectacular weekend on both ends of the floor and when we needed a basket, she got one for us. Jessica Harris had a great performance off the bench — that’s her game, she’s relentless on the boards. Taylor did some nice things for us and I thought Jamie Neal came out and played very well. And let’s not forget Mika (Peterman) came out and ran the point very well.”

Peterman finished with 13 points and 7 assists in the victory.