Springfield Downs Blue Basketball in NEWMAC Action, 85-53

Springfield, Mass. – Wellesley College basketball first year Caitlin Aguirre (El Paso, Texas) scored a team-high 18 points but the Blue dropped an 85-53 decision to Springfield College in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Saturday at Blake Arena.

Springfield is now 3-2 on the year, winning their NEWMAC opener, while dropping the Blue to 3-3 overall and 0-2 in league play. 

Senior center Ava Adamopoulos (Ludlow, Mass.) recorded 25 points and seven rebounds for the second time in as many games to lead the Pride. Junior Heather King (Lebanon, N.H.) added 12 points and six boards, while senior Molly McCausland (Millbury, Mass.) finished with 10 points, four assists and three rebounds. The Pride finished the game at 56.6% from the field, while scoring 39 points off of Wellesley turnovers. 

Aguirre finished in double-figures for the fifth-straight game, shooting 8-of-11 from the floor in 27 minutes of action. Classmate Keer Sun (Pine Brook, N.J.) chipped in with eight points and a team-high six rebounds for the Blue. Senior Ailis Hanley (Cranston, R.I.) also had six rebounds for the Blue, while first year Kendall You Mak (San Francisco, Calif.) added four rebounds, five assists, and four steals. 

Wellesley took an early 5-4 lead when sophomore Zojajha Ayub (Belle Mead, N.J.) knocked down a triple at 8:19 of the first. However, Springfield countered with a 19-2 run to close out the quarter. Lexi Windwer (Milton, Mass.) hit a three just past the midway point of the opening period to make the score 13-5, before Adamopoulos scored the final eight points of the quarter for the Pride to give the hosts a 23-7 advantage heading into the second.

Sun hit a pair of jumpers to open the second quarter, trimming the Springfield lead to 23-11, but the Blue failed to cut the deficit to single digits before the half despite outscoring the Pride (17-16) in the quarter. Adamopoulos added five more points to finish the half with 13, as Springfield went in to the break with a 39-24 lead.

Windwer hit a three-pointer 1:13 into the third quarter to put the Pride up by 20 in the opening minutes of the second half, 44-24. The Pride went on to outscore the Blue 22-13 in the third quarter and 24-16 in the fourth quarter, leading by as many as 35 points after the break en route to the 85-53 victory.

Wellesley will play at cross-town rival Babson at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, December 7. Springfield will also be in action Wednesday when they travel to Mount Holyoke for a 7:00 PM contest.