Blue Basketball Falls to Babson in NEWMAC Action, 67-55

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Babson College junior Payton Ouimette (Medfield, Mass.) recorded a double-double to lead the visiting Beavers to a 67-55 New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) victory over Wellesley College basketball on Wednesday at Gracia Mangano Martore '73 Court.

Babson improves to 5-2 on the season and 3-0 in the NEWMAC with the win. Wellesley drops to 3-4 overall and 1-2 in conference with the setback. 

Ouimette totaled her fourth double-double of the season, scoring 12 points and grabbing ten rebounds, while dishing out five assists, and collecting three steals. Senior Brenna LeGacy (Attleboro, Mass.) scored 16 points to lead Babson, totaling eight in each half on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor. Juniors Tea Spellacy (Belchertown, Mass.) and Bianca Tomassini (North Brandford, Conn.) chipped in with nine points and seven points, respectively. Tomassini also snagged five rebounds. 

Wellesley first year Lane Arkangel (Redondo Beach, Calif.) tied for game-high honors with 16 points off the Blue bench. Arkangel has now scored in double-figures in four of her first seven games with the Blue. Classmate Alyssa Cho (Hillsborough, Calif.) secured ten of Wellesley's 34 rebounds in the contest, while adding six points on 3-of-6 shooting. Sophomore Caitlin Aguirre (El Paso, Texas) scored eight points and senior Chelsea Brown (San Jose, Calif.) chipped in with seven, as the Blue bench outscored the starters, 31-24.

Babson never trailed past the 4:38 mark of the first, as Ouimette erased an 11—9 Wellesley lead with a layup to tie the contest. Threes from Katherine Tamulionis (Foxboro, Mass.) and Hailey Reynolds (Ramsey, N.J.) pushed Babson to a 17-11 lead at the end of the first, before the Beavers outscored the Blue 17-10 in the second quarter to take a 34-21 advantage into halftime. Wellesley outscored Babson in the third quarter, 14-13, and continued to trail by 12 when senior Kayla Jang (South Pasadena, Calif.) knocked down a jumper at the buzzer to make the score 47-35.

Babson countered by building their largest lead of the night in the opening minutes of the fourth, when a pair of fee throws from Ouimette put the visitors up by 19, at 54-35, with 8:04 to play. Wellesley trimmed the deficit back to 12 when an Arkangel lay-up made the score 60-48 at 3:14. However, Wellesley could never get over the 12-point hill, as Babson took the 67-55 final.

Wellesley finished the contest shooting 42.1% (24-for-57) from the floor, while Babson countered at an almost identical 42.3% (22-of-52). The Beavers made-up the difference at the free throw line, knocking down 20-of-28 attempts while limiting the Blue to 5-of-7 attempts. Babson also had a 36-34 edge in rebounds.

The Blue will play against Bridgewater State in their next contest at the Land of Magic Classic in Daytona Beach, Florida on Thursday, December 28, at 3:00 PM. Babson returns to action on Monday, December 18, when they host Roanoke College at 2:00 PM.