Wellesley Hoops Holds off Wheaton for Second Straight Victory

NORTON, Mass. – Wellesley College withstood a late rally from Wheaton College to claim a 39-35 triumph over the Lyons on Thursday night in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) matchup at Emerson Gymnasium.

Sophomore guard Courtney Jackson paced Wellesley with ten points, six steals, two assists and one board. Classmate Morgyne Weaver had eight points, seven rebounds, two blocks and one steal while senior guard Malia Maier scored eight points, brought down eight rebounds, swiped six steals, dished out two assists and registered a pair of blocks.

Sophomore forward Abbie Brickley notched a team-high ten points and grabbed nine rebounds for Wheaton. Freshman forward Kiley Shoemaker four points, hauled in 12 caroms, swatted five shots and picked up five steals. Junior Lauren McClelland contributed eight points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals.

The Blue held a 20-9 advantage at halftime as their defense forced the Lyons into 12 first half turnovers (11 off of steals) and a 2-for-21 (9.5-percent) showing from the field.  Wellesley opened up its biggest lead of the night, 28-13, at the 11:04 mark of the second half on a Weaver layup through traffic.

Wheaton trimmed away at the deficit coming within seven points (30-23) at 3:41 utilizing a 10-2 run. McClelland led the offensive charge with two contested layups while Brickley added an old-fashioned three-point play to jumpstart the offense at 10:02.

After the Blue pushed its gap back to double-digits (36-26) with 53-seconds remaining in the game, the Lyons dialed up three-straight 3-pointers to make it a one-possession contest with three seconds left to play.

Sophomore guard Kenzie Kuhn connected from long range at the 40-second mark, classmate Kirsten Ferrari swished a three-ball with 14-seconds left to spare and Kuhn delivered once again over a defender's hand with three seconds to go from the right wing. Maier made 1-of-2 free throws for Wellesley at the 23-second mark and Jackson sealed the victory with a second to play making both of her free throw attempts to close out the contest and the scoring at 39-35.

Wheaton shot 22.0-percent (11-for-50) from the floor, 33.3-percent from beyond the arc (4-for-12) and 69.2-percent (9-for-13) at the line. Wellesley connected on 25.0-percent (13-for-52) of its field goals, 20.0-percent (2-for-10) from long range and 52.4-percent (11-for-21) at the line. Both teams tied in the rebounding category, 41-41, and second chance points, 4-4. The Blue posted a 15-2 differential in points off of turnovers and a slim, 16-14, margin in points in the paint.

Wheaton (6-7, 3-4 NEWMAC) visits Clark University for a NEWMAC contest on Saturday, January 12 at 1 p.m. Wellesley (5-6, 4-3 NEWMAC) hosts WPI in conference play on Saturday at 2 p.m.