Second-Half Rally Sends Wellesley Basketball Past Wheaton, 60-50

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Junior Alyssa Cho (Hillsborough, Calif.) scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds, as Wellesley College basketball topped Wheaton, 60-50, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on National Girls & Women in Sports Day (NGWSD) on Saturday afternoon at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse. 

The Blue improve to 12-4 overall and 4-1 in conference with the win. The Lyons now sit at 7-11 overall (1-3 conference). 

Cho added five steals and five assists, finishing as one of three Blue players in double figures. Senior Emily Kopp (King Ferry, N.Y.) added 14 points and five rebounds and first year Jiyun Chae (Chantilly, Va.) contributed 13 points, three rebounds, and two steals. Senior Kendall You Mak (San Francisco, Calif.) chipped in eight boards and seven total points.

Wheaton junior Mikayla Pucci (Hopkinton, Mass.) and first year Bri Forbes (Frederick, Md.) put up 12 points, respectively, with Pucci pulling down six boards and Forbes chipping in one steal, one block, and two boards.

Wheaton outscored the Blue in the first, 17-13,  with Forbes contributing 10 of the teams 17 total points. Sophomore Sadie Shore (Portsmouth, N.H.) finished on an and-one to extend the Lyons lead to 20-13 just nine seconds into the second quarter. However, Cho put up seven points in the last seven minutes to help the Blue shorten their deficit to just three, 29-26, at the break. 

The Blue opened the second half on a 12-point run, taking a 38-29 lead on a layup from senior Caitlin Aguirre (El Paso, Texas) at 4:01 of the third. The Lyons snapped the Blue run with a jumper from first year Brooke Harvey (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) at 3:53. Wellesley would stretch the lead back to ten at 1:18, but and and-one from Pucci in the final minute of the quarter made the score 42-35 Wellesley to end the third. 

The Blue continued to stretch the lead in the fourth, taking their largest advantage of the game at 1:23 of the fourth when a pair of free throws from You Mak put the Blue up 14 points, at 59-45. Wheaton would get no closer than a ten-point deficit in the final minute. 

Wellesley finished the game 25-of-65 (38.5%) from the floor while Lyons countered at 16-of-37 (43.2%) from field goal range. Wellesley had a 41-21 rebound advantage. 

Both teams return to NEWMAC action on Wednesday, February 5, at 7:00PM as Wellesley travels to Babson and Wheaton travels to Coast Guard.