Wellesley Basketball Drops 80-61 NEWMAC Final at Babson

BABSON PARK, Mass. -- Senior Caitlin Aguirre (El Paso, Texas) scored a team-high 19 points but Wellesley College basketball dropped a 80-61 final to New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) rival Babson College on Wednesday evening at Staake Gymnasium. 

Wellesley entered the game winners of five of its last six but now moves to 12-5 overall and 4-2 in NEWMAC play. Babson improves to 12-7 overall and remains undefeated at 5-0 in conference games. 

Aguirre added three rebounds and four assists, finishing 7-of-13 from the field in 31 minutes. First year Jiyun Chae (Chantilly, Va.) added 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting, while junior Alyssa Cho (Hillsborough, Calif.) chipped in with eight points, four rebounds, and two steals. First year Taylor Hirn (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) added eight points in 20 minutes off the Wellesley bench. 

Babson first year Megan Bauman (East Lyme, Conn.) scored a game-high 25 points, adding three assists and three steals. Bauman was one of four Babson players to finish in double-figures, with junior Nicole Hiller (Rocky Hill, Conn.) adding 16 points, senior Emily Bonifacic (Allendale, N.J.) scoring 11 and senior Katherine Tamulionis (Foxboro, Mass.) chipping in 10. Senior Jacqueline Jozefick (Milford, Conn.) finished with a game-high 11 boards for the Beavers. 

A layup from senior Kendall You Mak (San Francisco, Calif.) at 4:16 of the first quarter put Wellesley up 14-11, but the Beavers closed the first quarter on a 9-3 run to take a 20-17 lead into the second quarter. Babson continued to grow the lead in the second quarter, shooting 64.3% (9-of-14) from the floor to stretch its three-point edge to ten.

The Blue took a brief two-point lead when Chae hit a jumper at 7:05 to put Wellesley ahead 27-25. Babson countered again with a big run to close out the quarter, outscoring the Blue 16-4 over the final 6:38 of the half to earn a 41-31 advantage at the break. Wellesley knocked down 5-of-7 (71.4%) attempts from beyond the arc in the first half but still trailed at the break.

The Blue trimmed the Babson advantage to five at the midway point of the third, when a Chae layup made the score 46-41, but Wellesley again failed to quell the next Babson run, as the Beavers countered with a 10-2 stretch the put the hosts up 54-43 at 2:31. Four straight free throws from Tamulionis helped Babson take a 15-point lead, 60-45, into the fourth quarter. The Beavers finished the third quarter 11-of-12 from the line. The Beavers would stretch the lead to as many as 20 in the final quarter before closing out the 80-61 final. 

Wellesley finished the game shooting 23-of-51 (45.1%) from the floor. Babson countered at 48.4% (30-of-62) and had a 39 to 25 advantage on the glass. 

Both teams continue NEWMAC play on Saturday, February 8, at 1:00 PM. The Blue will travel to Mount Holyoke and Babson will play at Clark.