Box Score
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – A strong first quarter wasn't enough to power the Eastern Connecticut State University women's basketball team, which dropped a tight 59-55 decision to host Williams College in the championship game of the Williams College Shooting Touch Tournament title game Saturday afternoon at the Chandler Athletic Complex.

Following an impressive 20-point win over Saint Joseph's College (ME) in Friday night's first round, Eastern (3-6) failed on Saturday to contain the offensive efforts of Kathleen Smith and Micah Walton, who combined for 45 points for Williams (6-3). The Ephs had moved into Saturday's final with a 60-50 victory over Wellesley College In Friday's first round.

Since losing to nationally-ranked Babson College in the tournament final in 2022-23, Williams has won three straight Shooting Touch titles.

The Warriors had won back-to-back games for the first time this season coming into Saturday's  contest and it showed in the first quarter. Eastern scored the first seven points of the game through first-year wing Maddie Topa (New Hartford) and junior forward Marissa Nudd (Colchester). The Warriors led by as many as 13 points in the first, the largest either team had all game. Topa, who has earned her way into a starting role for the Warriors, finished the quarter with 10 of her career-high 14 points. She also added a team and career-high eight rebounds. Nudd led Eastern with 19 points (7-of-12 FG/5-of-7 FT) and reached 500 career points in her two-year Eastern career.

The Ephs were able to cut the Warrior lead through Walton and Smith early on in the second quarter. The pair scored the first 13 points for the hosts, before Amaya Chase-Luthra scored her only bucket of the day. Williams pulled away late in the quarter with a 6-0 run, capitalizing on a stretch of just over 5 and a half minutes of play without a made Warrior field goal. Despite the cold streak to end the half, Eastern took a 5-point lead into the break.

Nudd and sophomore point guard Liv Cassesse (Wallingford) helped the Warriors keep pace in the first minute and a half of the third quarter, but another scoring draught ensued. This time it was over 6 minutes that separated layups from Cassesse and Topa, with only a made free throw from junior forward Alyssa Paquette (Claremont, NH) putting a point on the board for Eastern. Despite an offensively inefficient quarter, the Warriors found themselves down by just one heading into the final 10 minutes of the tournament.

Each team's leading scorers (Smith and Nudd) got things going in the final quarter. The Ephs were aggressive on defense, earning themselves a couple of  steals in the opening minutes. Kathleen Smith and Hanorah Murphy each had three steals, contributing to their team's 11 total. Throughout the fourth, the Warriors stayed within striking distance, tying the game at 51 with 5:22 to go. Cassesse responded to the Ephs offense, but with no field goals in the last couple of minutes, Walton hit a pair of free throws with 4 seconds remaining to seal the win for Williams.

Cassesse was Eastern's third double-digit scorer, with 12 points (5-of-10 FG). Paquette had seven points and seven rebounds.

The Warriors close out first-semester play with a non-conference game at Bridgewater State University (their fourth straight road game and eighth in their first ten games) Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. at the Tinsley Center. Following a 73-56 season-opening home win over UMass Dartmouth of the Little East, the Bears dropped four straight (allowing 70+ points in each) heading into a Dec. 10 non-conference road game at Brandeis University.

Eastern has won ten of the last 12 against Bridgewater but was beaten 79-74 last year at Bridgewater's Cave Classic.  The game against the Bears will be Eastern's final non-conference game, with the Warriors hosting UMass Boston (Jan. 3) and UMass Dartmouth (Jan. 6) in the first two of 15 straight season-ending LEC contests.