Wellesley Falls to Springfield, 77-61

Springfield grabbed the momentum early in the opening half, capitalizing on back-to-back threes from Kelly Murphy (Mechanicville, NY) to take a 17-8 advantage with 14:40 remaining. KD Stearns (Eustis, FL) kept the Blue close with four points, but consecutive buckets from Springfield's Rachelle Walker (Lee, MA) pushed the lead to 24-10 midway through the period.

Wellesley used a 7-4 run, including two of Robyn Burleson's (Seattle, WA) 12 first-half points, to trim the gap to 28-17 with 7:33 remaining, but Springfield maintained a solid lead for the remainder of the period. Shooting 67% from the field in the first half and 6-11 from behind the arc, the Pride went to the locker room with a 44-30 advantage.

In the early minutes of the second half the squads traded buckets until five straight points from Meghan Biondolillo (Levittown, NY) gave the Pride a 57-38 lead at the 12:09 mark. Wellesley battled back with an 11-1 run, including five points from Malia Maier (Torrance, CA) and a tip-in from Katie Martore (Great Falls, VA), to cut the lead to 58-49 with 7:00 on the clock. But Murphy stopped the bleeding for the Pride with a long trey, pushing the lead back to double-digits. Wellesley kept pace for three more minutes, and two free throws from Maier brought the Blue to within nine with 4:09 remaining. But the Pride answered with a three-pointer from Biondolillo and cruised to a 77-61 win.

Murphy finished with 21 points for Springfield, while Biondolillo posted 16 points. Kelly Slattery (Somers, CT) recorded 10 points, while Meagan Macarthur (Baiting Hollow, NY) and Abby Connors (Douglas, MA) each added nine. Emily Walker posted a team-high of seven rebounds while Slattery recorded five assists.

Maier led the Blue with 17 points while also adding three steals. Also for Wellesley, Burleson scored 12, while Becca Kimball (Weston, MA) added 10. Stearns and Ashleigh Sargent (Bedford, NH) each had six boards while Martore had six points, four steals and three assists.

2010 NEWMAC Women's Basketball Championship

Quarterfinals: Wednesday, February 24 at higher seed's site:
                  #8 Coast Guard at #1 Babson - 7 p.m.
                  #7 Mount Holyoke at #2 WPI - Time TBD
                  #6 Wellesley at #3 Springfield - Time TBD
                  #5 Smith at #4 Wheaton - Time TBD

Semifinals: Saturday, February 27, 1 p.m./3 p.m. at highest remaining seed:
  Winner #4 Wheaton/#5 Smith vs. Winner #1 Babson/#8 Coast Guard
  Winner #3 Springfield/#6 Wellesley vs. Winner #2 WPI/#7 Mount Holyoke

Championship: Sunday, February 28, 1 p.m. at seminfinal site:                         
                  Semifinal Winners