Springfield Deals Wellesley Basketball First NEWMAC Setback, 51-29

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Wellesley College basketball suffered the team's first New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) setback of the season on Saturday, falling 51-29 to Springfield College at Blake Arena.  

The Pride improve to 4-2 on the season and 2-0 in NEWMAC action with the win. The Blue drop to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in conference play. 

Sophomores Emily Jacques (Auburn, Maine) and Alex Goslin (South Windsor, Conn.) each scored 11 points to lead the Pride, who recorded the 400th victory for Head Coach Naomi Graves during her time at Springfield. Jacques was 4-of-10 from the field and hit a game-high three from behind the arc, while gathering six rebounds and three assists. Junior Gracie Restituyo (Barrington, R.I.) pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds as the Pride dominated on the glass, holding a 47-25 advantage.

Sophomores Kendall You Mak (San Francisco, Calif.) and Caitlin Aguirre (El Paso, Texas) led Wellesley with six points each. Aguirre went 3-for-8 from the floor and also grabbed four rebounds for the Blue, while You Mak was 3-for-5, brought down two rebounds, registered a steal, and added an assist. Junior Zojajha Ayub (Belle Mead, N.J.) added four points and four boards for the Blue, who finished the game shooting just 12-for-45 from the floor (26.7%).

The Blue had a 6-5 lead in the first quarter before Jacques made two three pointers to give the Pride the 13-6 edge. Ayub and first year Lane Arkangel each made layups to cut the deficit to 13-10 at the start of the second, but Springfield went on a 10-2 run to take a 23-12 lead into halftime.

The Blue outscored the Pride 11-10 in the third quarter, using a 9-0 run capped by a three-pointer from senior Chelsea Brown (San Jose, Calif.) to close the deficit to 25-21 with 6:57 left in the quarter. However, Springfield scored eight of the final 10 points in the third to take a 33-23 lead into the final stanza. The Pride continued to click in the fourth, using a 16-3 run over the opening seven minutes to build their largest lead of the game, at 49-26, with 2:14 to play. 

The Pride shot 21-of-57 (36.8%) from the floor in the contest and connected on 6-of-18 attempts from distance. Wellesley hit just 1-of-18 attempts from beyond the arc.

Both teams return to action on Wednesday, December 6, at 7:00 PM in NEWMAC contests. Springfield will host Mount Holyoke College and Wellesley will host cross-town rival Babson College.