Balanced Attack Leads Wellesley Basketball Over Babson

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- The Wellesley College basketball team used a well-balanced offense to hold off Babson, 55-45, on Tuesday night at Keohane Sports Center. With the win, Wellesley remains atop the NEWMAC standings at 14-3 overall, 11-2 in the conference. The Beavers drop to 8-10 on the season, 8-6 in league play.

Wellesley spread out the offense, with 10 points from Natalie Anderson leading the way. Leslie Leong and Katie Shulenberger added nine points each, also combining for nine boards and four steals. Chelsi Scott and Morgyne Weaver each chipped in with seven points, while Meghan Sargent and Kendall Bianchi added six apiece. Weaver led the Blue on the glass, pulling down a game-high nine rebounds, while adding five assists. Ailis Hanley rounded out the Wellesley box score with four blocks in the win.

Babson's Linnett Graber led all players with 12 points, while also adding five rebounds and three steals. Megan Otto had a balanced stat line, finishing with eight points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals. Also for the Beavers, Jess Coelho added eight points, while Giovanna Pickering pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.

Wellesley opened the game with a 7-4 run, sparked by an Anderson trey on the Blue's first possession. Babson stayed close, tying the game at 7-7 on a standard three-point play from Giovanna Pickering at the 15:29 mark. The Blue surged again, capitalizing on stingy defense and a Leong three for a 14-9 advantage midway through the period.

Babson's Erin Young stopped the run with a bucket from beyond the arc and Otto followed with two free throws to tie the score at 14-14. But Wellesley seized control again, using three defensive stops and three-pointers from Leong and Bianchi to open a 22-16 gap with 6:40 left in the half.

The Beavers' Taylor Russell slowed Wellesley's momentum with a layup at the 5:23 mark, cutting the lead to 22-18. After trading free throws, both squads hit short jumpers in the final minute, giving Wellesley a 25-21 edge at the break.

The teams traded buckets to open the second period, until two Leong free throws built a 32-26 advantage for the Blue at the 14:45 mark. Anderson followed with a fall-away jumper on the next possession to give the hosts their largest lead to that point, at 34-26.

Coelho kept pace for Babson with two layups, but Wellesley's Anderson drained a trey to maintain 39-30 advantage with 11:42 left. Coelho responded with two more points, but another three-pointer from the Blue, this time from Bianchi, stretched the lead to ten, at 42-32.

Both teams stalled midway through the period, until the Beavers used consecutive layups from Graber and Otto cut the lead to 44-38 with 6:15 remaining. Two minutes later Graber followed with a trey to put the score at 45-41, but Weaver answered for Wellesley with an old-school three-point play to maintain a seven-point gap. The Blue's Scott followed shortly with a layup to put the score at 50-41 with 2:50 left.

Babson kept fighting, narrowing the gap to seven with two free throws from Pickering at the 1:59 mark. However, Wellesley's Scott tallied four straight points from the line, giving the Blue a 54-43 lead with just under a minute remaining, en route to the 55-45 win.

Both teams return to the court for NEWMAC games on Saturday, February 1st, when Babson travels to WPI for a 1pm game and Wellesley heads to Smith for a 2pm matchup.