Williams loses one and wins one in Nashville. The loss was to a very good Whitman team, avenging their elite 8 loss almost 4 years ago. Williams stopped passing the ball and turned the ball over 7 times in the 4th quarter in a game they could have won. In the next game, the Williams point guard, Fernandez, was back in form, dishing out 10 assists. She leads the league in assists and when she cuts down her turnovers, the team operates well. Litman and Caveney both had 19 points. Williams has a strong inside game with Litman and Uwenaka rebounding and scoring and good outside shooting with McCall, Caveney and Fernandez. Turnovers, fouls and sharing the ball are the issues for this team.
If Williams takes care of the ball, shares and stays out of foul trouble, Williams can give Amherst a good game next week. If not...

just for grins, here is my totally unscientific, pre-christmas rankings of NESCAC women's teams:
1.Amherst
2. Conn College--yes really
3. Williams
4. Bowdoin
5. Tufts
6. Trinity
7. Colby
8. Middlebury
9. Wesleyan
10. Hamilton
11. Bates

waiting for January to see how it turns out. It's clear that below Amherst, the top teams are closer in ability than recent years.

Williams played Wesleyan today and won their little three matchup 81-62. This not the margin that Amherst beat Wesleyan (41), but the outcome and the play make it clear that Wesleyan will struggle to match the elite teams. The Cardinals  have a really good first year post in Tara Berger who had a 16 point 10 rebound game, but even she struggled in the third quarter when Williams put their elite defenders, Litman and Uwanaka, on her, scoring only one point. They feature balanced scoring with Brenna Diggins, a junior forward, Maeve Vitale, a sophomore guard,Danielle Gervacio a senior guard and Kaylie Williams, a senior forward. The bench is not deep. They are just not fast and athletic enough to be in the top tier of NESCAC this year, though Berger could be a cornerstone of a better team, if she keeps working on her post game.

I saw Bates play and they have heart and discipline, but not the physical skills of the better NESCAC teams. Their tallest player is 5'11" Allie Coppola and she has some talent, but is not fast. Their other forward Nina Davenport is their lead scorer at 14ppg and is skilled. Those two can rebound well. They have a guard that can shoot ,Bernadette Connors, and they screen to get her open. Their other guards are not that big and slower down the floor, but perform well enough in set pieces. They play 7 players mostly. They will not likely make the tournament this year, but may challenge some teams on good nights. They barely lost to Colby, for example.

Williams is off to a 6-0 start which is probably better than expected. There are no true stars yet. Different players have stepped up in each game. Last night the back court led-- Ammani Fernandez had 20 points and 11 assist and Devon Caveney had 29 points. The game before, the Williams bigs shone-- Katie Litman had 12 points and 21 boards, Oge Uwanaka had 12 points and 14 boards. The team will likely go as far as their super talented sophomore point guard, Fernandez, will take them. She is more relaxed this year and is playing much better but still turns the ball over more than she should. She leads NESCAC in 3 point shooting % so far. They will have to be more consistent to challenge Amherst, Bowdoin and Tufts (especially on offense), but on a good night they should be quite competitive.

I wouldn't count out Williams just yet. Every team needs a little bit of magic to survive  and advance in the playoffs and maybe Williams had a touch against Conn College. Nevertheless, Cook and MacDonald, their two senior starters, had two points between them, Fernandez, the freshman point guard, had no assists, Williams scored only 45 points, shot 1 for 11 on 3 pointers and still found a way to win. Their front court of Uwanaka and Litman saved the day.
Williams has depth and that's important at playoff time when opponents focus on your primary options.  They also led Tufts in their home game this month with two minutes to go and couldn't close it. They can beat Tufts, if they play together and have some playoff magic. The Williams front court matches up well against Kanner (2-14 vs Williams) and North. Fernandez, if she's on, can guard Foley. Tufts should definitely be favored, but don't throw dirt on the Williams grave quite yet. Depth matters now.

The Amherst - Williams game was decided in the first two minutes of the game. Williams won the tip and immediately got a good look near the basket--miss. second trip--close shot--miss, third trip--great look from 10 ft--miss, fourth trip --right side layup miss. By that time Amherst was up by 8 and Williams started pressing. Williams actually took more shots than Amherst the first half but after the first series the shots became less selective and the ball stopped moving. Meanwhile Amherst sliced Williams up with pretty give and go's and drive kick outs and shot over 60% in the first half. And that, as they say, was the ball game. Credit Amherst for being prepared and putting the petal to the metal early in the first half. It was a great performance by Amherst.

In an epiphany, I think the Ephs have taken on the character of their first year point guard, Fernandez. They are the "Guardians of the Galaxy" team -- a little bit good, a little bit bad and a little bit of both-- usually within the same game! Fernandez is immensely talented and if she plays to her potential the Ephs will go far... 

Cook was truly amazing for Williams and made many tough shots in her 12-15 shooting performance for 33 points--  and she played within the offensive scheme. It was one of the best outings I have seen from her and probably a career high. Litman had 10 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks and Macdonald and Fernandez had 11 points each and 11 assists between them. Caveney was back and scored 9 on 3-10 shooting. Williams had a poor defensive first half and committed 10 turnovers but really locked down UMD in the second half, limiting them to 24% shooting.
It's hard to say how Williams will perform when conference play starts this weekend. They are very talented and deep, but we'll see if they can play consistently enough to really challenge for a NESCAC title. Last year they lost to both Trinity and Amherst, but they are significantly better this year.

Eastern played VERY well and had a good game plan, but it was one of those games for Williams. The Ephs couldn't put the basketball in the Atlantic ocean in the second half. They went 1-14 on 3 point shots , they missed mid range shots, they missed layups--they shot 25% for the Game and the first half was better than 25%. Most of the shots were good looks. Williams could have won, but just couldn't execute. Meanwhile Eastern made 3 pointers and free throws and stayed mentally strong in the second half and deserved to win.
Williams washed the bad game taste out of their mouths the next day with a win over a tough and physical Lynchburg team. They found a new starter perhaps in Fechtelkotter who had 13 rebounds and played tough D. They still had too many turnovers.

Polls don't mean as much as they will later on (or that much at all, till conference play begins), but three NESCAC teams are ranked in the top 10 in the WBCA poll and 3 in the top 11 in Diii hoops. The UAA has 2, Wash U and NYU. I consider NYU a semi-NESCAC team since Cassie Loftus, their assistant coach, used to be at Williams, so that makes 3.5  

Williams beat Wesleyan today 77-59. It was a balanced effort and, what do you know, they played an inside out game! That took the pressure off Cook (who had 11) :  Uwenaka had 17 points, McCall was hitting and had 11,  Litman got some nice buckets and Caveney was on fire and scored 18 before she went out with an ankle injury. The defense was better but they committed way too many fouls that kept the Cardinals in the game for a while. Overall an encouraging effort against a NESCAC opponent. I hope Caveney's injury is not serious; she is a key contributor.

If some beats Amherst at Lefrak it should be in Sports Illustrated and reported by AP-- really. Gromacki has an incredible coaching record. Since he took over the Amherst program in the 2007-8 season, the team has 18 losses-- 18 in 7+ seasons-- that's ridiculous (Full Disclaimer-- I am a Williams fan, so I got to see 3 of those losses and they all felt great, especially the one two years ago when Williams broke an 11 game losing streak to Amherst). Nevertheless, Amherst has won 101 games at home in a row, which is unprecedented in women's college basketball. This accomplishment deserves to be recognized. Gromacki is one of the most talented coaches in women's college basketball at any level. Ironically, the best chance we have to publicize his and Amherst's greatness is when this streak ends. We should make every effort to do so. 

I read the last 3 comments with interest. They are very thoughtful. Here's my take on the Williams game against the Thoroughbreds (great name) last night: their defense was good on the perimeter, less good down low. Botiba, Skidmore's post and their best player, scored 16 points and had 11 rebounds. Litman and Uwenaka are very good athletic defenders, but there was no help defense to speak of until late in the game. That was the same issue as the previous game and needs to be fixed.
The offense needs to evolve from outside in, to inside out. Outside shots don't fall some nights, but layups and free-throws usually do. They certainly have the personnel to do it: Litman, MacDonald, Uwenaka, even McCall and Fechtelkotter, can all play down low and swing the ball out or play pick and roll. Cook is great and leads the team in assists, but Fernandez has not shown that she can distribute the ball to make the offense hum. Throw it into the post or play pick and roll and let the offense spread out. That would open up scoring opportunities all over the floor. They cant go 11 minutes without a field goal and win games against the top NESCAC teams. 

Williams beat Eastern Connecticut 70-64, but it was not a convincing win. They were up by as much as 23 in the second half when EC started a good run and almost caught up. Cook was very good, MacDonald was in form and Caveney had a good game. The offense was ok for most of the game but there were many missed opportunities. The defense started breaking down in the latter part of the game. Litman and Uwenaka were not on the floor because Williams was in the penalty and Manning was worried about fouls. The defense depends upon contesting jump shots and guarding the rim and it was concerning to see EC's Brooks, Ritrosky and McCourt slice through the heart of the defense and score layups or pass out for uncontested shots. There is work to be done to fix the defensive rotations. Tougher teams will take full advantage of these kind of lapses.