Chae Scores 21 in Blue Basketball Setback to Wesleyan, 63-54

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wesleyan University fought off a late comeback from Wellesley College basketball to win 63-54 on Saturday afternoon at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse.

Sophomore Olivia Quinn (Franklin, Mass.) scored 19 points, going five-for-six from three point range to give the Cardinals (2-1 Overall) an offensive boost. Senior Alana Jones (White Plains, N.Y.) led the team with eight rebounds and eight assists while junior Tori DaCosta (Bronx, N.Y.) chipped in 10 points.

Senior Jiyun Chae (Chantilly, Va.) scored a game-high 21 points for the Blue (1-3 Overall) and went six-for-six from the charity stripe. Sophomore Arla Hofer (Las Vegas, Nev.) contributed eight points and seven rebounds and sophomore Sairah O'Brien-Forde (Binghamton, N.Y.) picked up four assists and four steals for Wellesley.

Wellesley led 10-9 seven minutes into the first quarter when the Cardinals picked up steam, scoring the final nine points of the quarter, including a pair of baskets from first year Kate King (Princeton, Mass.).

The second quarter featured even competition from both teams with the Blue tying the game at 25-25 on the back of a 7-0 stretch with five unanswered points from first year Mirella Funari (Phoenix, Ariz.). Wesleyan recovered late in the quarter and the scoreboard read 32-25 in the Cardinals' favor at halftime.

Wesleyan scored the first five points of the third quarter and built its lead up to 22 at 52-30. A last second three pointer from Serna cut the deficit to 17 at the end of the quarter.

A 6-2 run for Wellesley brought the score to 58-45 in Wesleyan's favor. The scrappy Blue didn't go away, getting back to single digits at 60-52 with a jumper from Chae. While eight was ultimately as close as Wellesley came to taking the game back, the Blue fought hard to win the fourth quarter in a 63-54 losing effort.

Wesleyan shot 26-for-61 (42.6%) from the field while Wellesley was 20-for-58 (34.5%). The Cardinals outrebounded the Blue 42-32 and scored 16 points off of turnovers while the Blue had 13.

Next up, the Blue travel to Fisher for a 7:00 PM contest on Tuesday, November 21 while the Cardinals play a 6:00 PM game at Clark on the same day.