WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. –
Olivia Quinn '26 produced another stellar 23-point outing, but the Wesleyan women's basketball team fell just short in a 53-46 defeat at Williams on Sunday afternoon. The loss drops the Cardinals to 3-3 on the year while the Ephs improve to 4-2.
Quinn was on fire right from the opening tip, hitting three three-pointers and scoring 11 of the Cardinals' 13 points in the first quarter. Quinn's second triple of the stanza tied the score at 8 apiece while her third of the frame made it 14-13 Ephs with just over one minute left.
The second quarter saw Wesleyan hold Williams to a 4-for-15 showing from the floor, scoring just nine points in the quarter including a 5+ minute scoreless span. Williams had taken a 24-15 lead with 5:13 left in the quarter, but Wesleyan managed to score nine unanswered before halftime to tie the score at 24-24 at the break.
Alli Jones '27 scored four points in that 9-0 run while
Meghan Kirck '28 hit a jumper with under a minute left that made it 24-24.
The Ephs began to assert their will on the game, scoring the first nine points of the second half before a Quinn three-pointer stopped the scoring run. Williams' lead grew to double digits late in the third quarter but Kirck scored five unanswered points herself to make it a five-point game heading into the fourth.
Ali Murphy '27 scored just 21 seconds into the final quarter to make it 41-38 Williams, only to see the Ephs answer with a 6-0 run. Wesleyan cut the lead down to five with 3:10 remaining and later down to 48-44 with 1:06 left. The Cardinals forced a miss from Kathleen Smith on the ensuing Ephs possession, but Smith grabbed her own miss and the Cardinals were forced to foul from there.
Williams went 5-for-6 on their free throws down the stretch to ice the non-league Little Three contest away.
Quinn played all 40 minutes and scored 23 points on 9-for-19 shooting and 5-for-10 from three-point land. Kirck added seven points while Jones finished with six points and seven rebounds. Wesleyan held Williams to a 1-of-9 showing from three-point territory, but the Ephs dominated the paint with a 28-14 advantage in points in the paint for the game.
Wesleyan closes out a five-game road swing on Wednesday night with a 7:30 PM tip against Coast Guard.