#4 Wellesley Basketball Falls to #5 Babson in NEWMAC Quarterfinals

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Fifth-seeded Babson College built a commanding lead in the first half and held off host and fourth-seeded Wellesley College for a 70-48 victory in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Women's Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals on Wednesday evening.

Babson (14-12) advances to Saturday's semifinals, and will take on host and top-seeded Smith College at 1:00pm. Wellesley (16-9) will await a possible ECAC Tournament bid.

Babson's Giovanna Pickering led the Beavers with 15 points, eight rebounds and four steals.  Erin Young tallied 14 points, 12 of them in the first half, while Kristen Ferola added nine points and four picks. Jennifer Narlee chipped in seven points to go along seven steals and four assists. Megan Otto grabbed a team-high nine rebounds in the win.

Wellesley senior Leslie Leong and junior Natalie Anderson recorded team-highs of 10 points, with Leong adding eight rebounds, three steals, and a pair of assists. Junior Morgyne Weaver posted nine-points and a game-high 12 rebounds, while classmate Meghan Sargent picked up nine points. Rounding out the Wellesley stat line, first-year Ailis Hanley had six points and a pair of blocks, while senior Katie Shulenberger recorded four points, four rebounds, and two assists.

Babson opened the game in a full-court press and it paid off quickly as the visitors scored 13 unanswered points to start the half. Leading the charge for the Beavers were Kristen Ferola and Pickering, who combined for nine points in the opening run. Wellesley finally stopped the bleeding with two Anderson free throws at the 12:40 mark, but Babson pressed on, extending its lead to 19-4 with a three from Young and Taylor Russell jumper.

The Blue briefly slowed the visitors momentum midway through the period, with a bucket from Hanley and two more Anderson free throws to put the score at 22-8. But Babson surged again, as Young tallied six points during a 10-2 run to give the Beavers a 32-10 lead at 3:28 mark. The visitors then closed out the half with a 10-6 run, with five more from Young, to put the score at 42-16 at the break.  

Babson shot 49% in the first half and racked up 14 assists, while holding Wellesley to just 18% from the floor. At the defensive end, the Beavers forced 13 Wellesley turnovers in the half, including four Narlee steals. Babson also dominated the boards at both ends of the floor, out-rebounding the Blue 23-13 in the period.

The Beavers opened the second half right where they left off, scoring six unanswered points on buckets from Ferola, Narlee, and Linnett Graber. Wellesley's Leong hit a three to halt the momentum at the 15:32 mark, and Weaver followed with traditional three-point play a minute later to cut the lead to 48-23 with 14:40 remaining.

After the teams traded baskets, Wellesley put together a 7-0 run with an Anderson three and free throws from Sargent and Weaver to cut the lead to 50-32. But the Blue would get no closer as Babson answered with five quick points from Gena Restiano to extend the lead to 55-32 at the 10:55 mark. Graber followed with four more to give the visitors a 59-32 advantage with 9:25 remaining.

The Blue outscored Babson 16-11 over the remainder of the game, but could not recover from the early deficit, as the Beavers held on for the 70-48 victory.