Wellesley Drops Season-Closer to Smith, 57-53

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wellesley basketball closed out its regular season with a heart-breaking loss to Smith College this afternoon during Senior Day at Keohane Sports Center. The visiting Pioneers were perfect at the line, shooting 10-10 from the charity stripe, to seal the 57-53 win in coach Kathy Hagerstrom's final home game for the Blue. 

Smith closes out its season at 9-15, 3-10 in conference play.  Despite the loss, Wellesley advances to the NEWMAC tournament, seeded #6 in a field of eight.  The Blue will travel to Springfield on Wednesday, February 25 (time to be determined), for a quarterfinal match-up against #3-seeded Pride.

Jessica Duff (Milton, Abingdon, UK) opened the game quickly for the Blue, draining a three-pointer just ten seconds into the game. After trading freethrows, Smith capitalized on a put back from Anna Veltri (West Milford, NJ) and 10-footer fromBerit Schelde (Hostelbro, Denmark) to take a 6-5 lead. But Duff's second trey reclaimed the lead for Wellesley at 8-6, and another bucket from behind the arc, this time from Elisha Orama (Miramar, FL), streched the lead to five at the 12:30 mark.

After trading baskets, the Blue tallied five straight with a trey from Katie Frett (Hallowell, ME) and a jumper from Robyn Burleson (Seattle, WA) to push the lead to 18-10 with 9:21 remaining. Smith responded with a 9-0 run, sparked by strong defense from Courtney Parker (Ocean City, MD) and two put-backs from Schelde, to retake the lead at 19-18.

Julia Thomas (Concord, CA) broke the Pioneer string with a freethrow to tie the score at 19-19. Two possessions later, Wellesley's Courtney Richter (Sinking Spring, PA) sank a 14-footer, followed by her second trey, to give the Blue a 26-21 edge with 4:10 remaining. Smith battled back, taking advantage of clutch shooting from Schelde and a three-pointer from Veltri with :02 left to give the Pioneers a 32-31 halftime edge.

Smith opened the second half with a 10-2 run, including two more buckets from Schelde, to open a 42-33 lead with 16:30 left. But Wellesley battled back with a 7-2 run of its own, including a three-pointer from Frett, to trim the lead to 44-40, and a trey from Richter, her third of the game, to bring the Blue to within one at the 10:00 mark. After four successive defensive stops, Nicole Labbee (Florence, MA) hit a running jumper at the 7:15 mark to give the Blue its first lead of the half at 45-44.

The lead changed hands twice before Veltri's 18-footer gave the visitors a 50-47 edge with 4:45 remaining. The Pioneers held the Blue scoreless for the next two possesions, and Meredith Murelli (Litchfield, CT)converted a conventional three-point play to stretch the visitor's lead to 53-47 at the 3:13 mark.  A layup and freethrow from Thomas closed the gap to 53-50 with :31 left, but the Blue could get no closer as Veltri drained four from the line to in the closing seconds to seal the 57-53 win.

Smith's Schelde led all players with 16 points.  Jessica Welk (Arlington, WA) added 12, while Veltri chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds. Veltri was also 6-6 from the charity stripe.  Lisa Marie Vuono (Lyndhurst, NJ)led the Pioneers in the paint, grabbing nine boards while scoring seven points.

Wellesley's seniors Duff, Richter, and Thomas once again led the Blue.  Duff's 13 points give her a career total of 1076, which moves her passed Sarah Bay '96 (1069 points) into 5th place on the all-time list.  Richter tallied 12 points, eight rebounds, and six assists, while Thomas chipped in nine points and eight rebounds.