Colby Holds Off Blue Basketball, 54-53

WATERVILLE, Maine --- A late surge for Wellesley College basketball fell just short, as the Blue dropped a one point decision, 54-53, to host Colby College on day two of the Colby Classic in Waterville, Maine.  

Colby sophomore Caitlyn Nolan led all scorers with a career high 26 points to help the Mules improved to 4-0 overall. Sophomore Lauren Barnhart added  nine points and three steals, while classmate MaryKate Caverly had a game-high six assists and six points.

Wellesley senior Morgyne Weaver finished with 18 points, nine rebounds, and four assists for the Blue, who drop to 2-3 on the season. First year Kayla Jang tied for  game-high honors with six assists while also adding nine points. Junior Chelsi Scott had a game-high nine rebounds and scored six points.

The Mules dominated the first 15 minutes of the contest, opening up a 22-5 lead with 5:14 to halftime. Caverly's two free throws with 1.6 seconds to intermission gave Colby a 34-18 lead. 

Colby still had a healthy 14-point margin with 13 minutes to play, but Wellesley chipped away at the lead behind better shooting and more rebounding. The Blue, after shooting 20.8 percent in the first half, were 50 percent shooters in the final 20 minutes. Wellesley also ended the game with a 34-32 rebounding margin after trailing 17-15 at the break.

With Colby up by 13 points, Blue senior Natalie Anderson nailed a 3-point shot for the Blue and Scott added an inside score to cut the margin to 46-38.  

The Mules still led by eight points after Nolan scored on a nice cut to the basket on an out of bounds play to make it 52-44 with 4:57 remaining.

Ailis Hanley followed with a 3-point shot for the Blue to cut the margin to five points with 4:30 to go. Hanley added another score with 1:58 remaining to bring the score to 52-49. Hanley finished with seven points of the Wellesley bench. 

The Mules almost turned the ball over to the Blue, but had a loose ball go to Caverly and she was fouled. Shen then calmly sank both free throws for Colby's last points of the night with 37 seconds left. 

Wellesley got another big 3-point shot when Weaver connected from the top of the key with 24 seconds to play to bring the margin to 54-52. After a Colby missed one-and-one with 11.7 seconds left, Weaver was fouled with 4.3 seconds to play and a chance to tie the game. She made the first shot, but missed to the right on the second. 

Colby missed another one-and-one with 3.4 seconds to play to give the Blue one more chance. Anderson ran into a Colby player around the half-court line and unleashed a shot that hit the back of the rim at the buzzer.

The Blue will return after the Thanksgiving break, opening the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference schedule at Emerson on December 3rd at 5:30 PM. Colby will play on more before the break as they will take on Thomas on Tuesday at 5:30 PM.