Wellesley Secures NEWMAC Bid with Win Over Wheaton

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- In Wellesley basketball's final home game of the 2010-11 campaign, the Blue grabbed a key 63-58 win over Wheaton College.  The win lifts the Blue to 12-11 on the season, 9-8 in the NEWMAC. Wheaton drops to 10-14 overall, 7-10 in the conference.

The win secures Wellesley a berth in next week's NEWMAC Tournament.

In a first half marred by turnovers, Wellesley maintained the upperhand by shooting 42% from the field and 40% (4-10) from beyond the arc. Despite shooting 27% for the half, Wheaton stayed close with six steals, two blocks, and nine points from the foul line.

The Blue opened the game with hot shooting from Elisha Orama and Becca Kimball, building a 15-6 lead at the 11:55 mark. The Lyons responded with six straight points, including four from Nicole Cullinane, to cut the lead to three. Wellesley answered with a spurt of their own, opening a 23-13 advantage, but Wheaton's Gabbie DePalo led another surge to cut the lead to 27-24 at the break.

The second period proved to be as hard-fought as the first, but the Blue used three-point shooting and clutch free-throws in the closing seconds to seal the win.  In the opening minutes of the half, the squads traded buckets until a jumper from Wheaton's Jana Jagodzinski tied the score 34-34 at the 14:30 mark. After a barrage of three-pointers from both teams, Wellesley's Malia Maier drained yet another trey, her sixth of the evening, sparking a six-point run that gave the Blue a 57-51 lead with 3:20 left on the clock.

With the post-season tournament on the line, Wheaton responded with seven straight points, including five from Cullinane, to grab a 58-57 lead at the 1:20 mark. But the Blue moved ahead with two free throws from Leslie Leong with :29 left and grabbed a 63-58 victory with four more points from the line.

DePalo led the Lyons with 14 points and 13 boards. Jeana Trimboli added 12 points, while Cullinane chipped in 11 off the bench.

Four Wellesley players scored in double figures. Maier led the Blue with 18 points, all from behind the three-point line.  Orama and Leong tallied 13 each, and Kimball recorded 11 on the night.

Both teams close out their regular seasons on Saturday, Feb. 19, when Wellesley travels to Springfield for a 1pm match-up, while Wheaton hosts WPI at 3:00pm.