It was a game of interior dominance for the women’s basketball team, as the Bombers blew out the William Smith College Herons 60-45 on Jan. 31 at the Ben Light Gymnasium.
When the two teams first met Jan. 11, the Bombers doubled the Herons’ score and cruised to a 48-24 win that snapped a four-game skid. In the three weeks since that matchup, the South Hill squad has won five in a row, while William Smith’s only win in that time frame was a nail-biter against Bard College.
The game’s tone was set early because the Bombers’ first points of the night came on a left-handed layup and one for senior forward Anya Watkins. Watkins finished with a season-high 14 points and four assists.
“I want to credit my teammates,” Watkins said. “They got me the ball inside, which is why I was able to score and dominate. I really focused on positioning today and trying to post up in a place where my teammates could see me and get me the ball. That’s something I’ve been working on for a long time, so it’s good to see it come to fruition.”
Watkins was not the only Bomber to find success inside, though. A few of the team’s tallest players found themselves in great positions to bully their way into open shots at the rim. Alongside the 5-foot-11 inch Watkins, 5-foot-10 inch sophomore forward Elizabeth Majka put up eight points in the third quarter. The best of these shots may have been the first; within 10 seconds of the half’s beginning, Majka banked in a turnaround fadeaway jumper on the right block.
That third quarter is the period that encapsulates this game the most because the Bombers outscored the Herons 23-9 without attempting a single 3-pointer. Every point the Bombers scored during that period came in the paint, sans a lone free throw made by senior forward Annabella Yorio. The refusal to take outside shots almost seemed intentional, something that head coach Dan Raymond confirmed post-game.
“We always want to play inside out,” Raymond said. “That’s where our first look is. We always want to go to our bigs first, because one thing that we share with all of our players all the time [is] how hard it is for those guys to play inside. It’s a battle down there, so when they get opportunities, we want to make sure that we give them those chances.”
Other notable stats from that third period include a 22-4 run, which began in the second frame, the Bombers’ lead ballooning to as much as 33 points, and the Herons failed to score for over four minutes. Most impressive was the Bombers’ bench outsourcing the Herons 12-0, especially since eight of those points came from one player. In her first game since the Clarkson matchup two weeks ago, sophomore guard Grace McNamara looked like a full-time starter. She recorded 10 points on 5-6 shooting, four rebounds, an assist, two steals and two blocks in just eight minutes of game time. Offensively, she glided to whatever shot she wanted with ease, while she poked loose dribbles and poor passes free on defense. It seemed like just about every possession either began or ended with her doing something special.
“It was just awesome to go out there and just give everything I have,” McNamara said. “I love to contribute any way I can. I love being a hustle player.”
The Bombers improved 10-7 overall and 9-1 in the conference, which sees them take pole position in the Liberty League.
