Blue Basketball Shakes-Off Slow Start, Tops Emerson on Senior Day, 60-52

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Wellesley College basketball rallied from a 13-point first quarter deficit to defeat Emerson College, 60-52, in a key New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference game on Saturday afternoon at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse.

The Blue celebrated Senior Day for Caitlin Aguirre (El Paso, Texas), Emily Kopp (King Ferry, N.Y.) and Kendall You Mak (San Francisco, Calif.) before going on to improve to 14-6 overall and 6-2 in NEWMAC games. Emerson is now 13-11 and 4-5 in NEWMAC play. Saturday's victory helped the Blue hold on to the number three spot in the NEWMAC standings with two games to play in the regular season.

Four Wellesley players finished in double-figures on offense, with Kopp and first year Jiyun Chae (Chantilly, Va.) tying for game-high honors with 15 points. Kopp also had a game-high four steals. Aguirre added 11 points, seven assists, and two steals in 38 minutes of action. First year Taylor Hirn (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) dropped in a season-high 10 points, including a pair of clutch threes late in the contest. Junior Alyssa Cho (Hillsborough, Calif.) had a game-high 10 of Wellesley's 37 rebounds.

Junior Ashley Toner (Barnegat, N.J.) scored 13 points in 31 minutes off the Emerson bench, shooting 5-for-12 from the floor and 3-for-10 from distance. Juniors Sam Boyle (Scotts Valley, Calif.) and Rachel Davey (Saratoga, Calif.) each added 11 points, while senior guard Quinn Madden (Mokena, Ill.) filled the box score with seven points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Boyle matched Madden on the glass, grabbing seven rebounds in her 34 minutes of action.

Emerson dominated at the start, opening the game on a 15-2 run that gave the Lions their largest lead of the day when Davey hit a three pointer in the final minute of the first. Chae countered with a bucket on the next Wellesley possession, igniting a 13-0 Wellesley run that would tie the score, 15-15, at the midway point of the second.

Chae scored nine of the 13 Wellesley points in the run, hitting the game-tying three at the midway point of the second. Wellesley outscored the Lions 22-10 in the second quarter, turning a 15-4 first quarter deficit into a 26-25 halftime lead.

Emerson opened the third quarter with back-to-back buckets from Boyle at 9:41 and 8:14 to take a 29-26 advantage. The Blue responded with a 6-0 run to retake the lead, 31-29, at 5:30 and never gave it back. A bucket from Aguirre helped Wellesley close out the third with a six-point advantage, 42-46.

Emerson would trim the Blue lead all the way down to two in the closing minutes of the fourth, when Toner hit the second of her two threes in the quarter to make the score 51-49 at 2:31. However, back-to-back threes from Hirn on the next two Blue possessions pushed the score to 57-49 and sealed the win for Wellesley.

Wellesley and Emerson continue the NEWMAC season on Wednesday, February 19. The Blue will travel to MIT for a 7:00 PM tip and the Lions will take on WPI in Worcester at 7:30 PM.