Late Run Leads Wellesley Basketball Past Springfield

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- First-year Morgyne Weaver netted a career-high 15 points to lead the Wellesley College basketball team to a 51-42 win over NEWMAC-rival Springfield on the road on Saturday afternoon. The win lifts the Blue to 2-0 in conference play, 3-2 overall, while the Pride remain winless in the NEWMAC (0-2) and shift to 2-4 overall.

Wellesley closed the game on a 12-0 run, turning a three-point deficit into a nine-point win in just over two minutes of play. Timely defense and strong free-throw shooting carried the Blue down the stretch, handing Springfield its second straight home loss.

The Blue fell behind early, as Springfield scored the first five points of the game and held a 7-2 lead after five minutes of play. Wellesley, however, battled back to take an 8-7 lead with three points each from juniors Ashleigh Sargent and Malia Maier. Neither team was able to gain momentum, with the largest lead from that point coming with 3:01 to play when a Weaver bucket gave Wellesley a 17-13 advantage.

Springfield's Kelly Slattery would add a basket with 2:39 remaining, but neither team managed another score, giving Wellesley a 17-15 lead at the break. The Blue were backed by five points and five steals from Maier and four points each from Weaver and sophomore Leslie Leong.

Wellesley opened the second half with back-to-back threes from Leong and first-year Meghan Sargent, taking a 23-15 lead at 18:01. The Blue held an eight point lead for the next four minutes, before Springfield began to chip away, closing the gap to 32-28 halfway through the period.

The Blue then regained momentum, taking their largest lead of the game at 39-28 after two free throws from Ashleigh Sargent at 8:36. However, Springfield held Wellesley without a basket for the next six minutes, while the Pride's Megan Biondolino nailed two threes and Jamie Bickelhaupt added four points to give Springfield a 42-39 lead with 2:18 left to play.

From that point on it was all Wellesley, as Maier and Weaver each scored five points, and senior Elisha Orama contributed a steal and two key free throws to spark a 12-0 run and seal the 51-42 victory.

Weaver led the Blue with a team and career-high 15 points, while also adding six rebounds and two steals. Maier posted 12-points to go along with seven steals and two assists, while Leong chipped in with eight points and five boards.

For Springfield, Colleen Dignum was the only player to reach double figures, tallying a game-high 16 points. Behind her, junior Meghan Biondolillo tallied eight points, while senior Kelly Slattery chipped in with seven.

The Pride will play again on Tuesday evening when they travel to take on conference-foe Smith College at 7:00pm. Wellesley returns home on Tuesday to battle cross town and NEWMAC-rival Babson, hosting the nationally-ranked Beavers at 7:00pm.