WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. –  A sensational 40-minute effort turned in by the Wesleyan women's basketball team proved enough in a 70-62 road win over Little Three rival Williams on Saturday afternoon from Chandler Gym. The Cardinals (5-3) improve to 4-1 playing away from home this season while this signature win marks just the second time that Wesleyan has defeated the Ephs in Williamstown since 2002. Williams (6-4) drops their second straight game in the loss.
 
Wesleyan came storming out of the gates, building a double-digit lead less than seven minutes into play and finishing with a 20-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Cardinals held the Ephs without a field goal for the first 3:37 of play, while Felicia Fongemie '27 and Olivia Quinn '26 combined to score 10 points in the middle stages of the frame to build the big lead early.
 
It was more of the same in the second quarter, with Wesleyan again finding plenty of success on the offensive end, hitting 50 percent of their attempts from the floor while Williams shot just 33.3 percent in the frame. Maggie Lee '23 was involved early and often with seven straight points for the Cardinals, the last of which being a three-pointer that made it 27-13 Wesleyan. Williams cut the deficit down to eight points but a strong finish featuring buckets from Alli Jones '27 and Quinn in the final minute made it 37-26 Cardinals at halftime.
 
The second half started with a 41-point third quarter, as Wesleyan scored 21 while the Ephs netted 20 in the frame. Neither side could get an extended run going until the late stages wherein Williams got a three from Ellie Tounkara that made it 51-46 Cardinals but that was the last points the Ephs would score in the stanza. Tori DaCosta '25 responded to that three-point make with a basket followed by five points from Quinn as the Cardinals finished the quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 58-46 lead into the fourth.
 
After going three straight quarters with plenty of success offensively, Wesleyan struggled shooting in the fourth, going just 2-for-10 from the floor as the Ephs attempted to mount a comeback bid. The Cardinals went up 60-46 early in the quarter but the Ephs pulled to within five at 61-56 with 6:35 remaining. Wesleyan, however, bore down and played excellent defensively, with neither side scoring for nearly three minutes before Kate King '27 netted baskets on consecutive possessions to stymie the Williams run.
 
Williams again cut into the lead, trailing by four with 2:02 left, but the Cardinals again came up with the stops when they needed them the most, holding the Ephs without a basket for the final 2:16 of the contest. Lee and Alana Jones '24 came up with clutch free throw makes down the stretch as the Cardinals iced away a 70-62 win.
 
Quinn led the Cardinals with 18 points and 11 rebounds for her third double-double in the past five games. She has scored 10+ points in all eight games thus far on the season. Fongemie pumped in 14 points (5-11 FG) while Lee finished with 11 points. DaCosta totaled eight points and eight rebounds while Alli Jones finished with eight points, six rebounds, and two assists in just 16 minutes off the bench. King contributed across the board with four points, four rebounds, three assists, and three blocks. Jones tallied a career-high six steals.
 
Wesleyan is back in action in 10 days with a trip to St. Petersburg, Florida looming. The Cardinals open the St. Pete Classic with a neutral site contest against Russell Sage on Tuesday, December 19 at 11 AM.