Barrow's Triple-Double Leads Blue Basketball To 75-69 Win Over Nichols

DUDLEY, Mass. – First year Trinity Barrow (Evans, Ga.) recorded the first triple-double for Wellesley College basketball since Leslie Leong '14 back in 2014 to give the Blue (6-3 Overall) a 75-69 victory on the road at Nichols College on Friday. The win marked the 300th in the career of Head Coach Jennifer Kroll.

Barrow scored 10 points with 13 rebounds and 10 assists while sophomore Arla Hofer (Las Vegas, Nev.) had personal-bests in both points and rebounds, with 22 and 14, while shooting eight-for-13 (61.5%) from the field. Senior Jiyun Chae (Chantilly, Va.) contributed 15 points and first year Mirella Funari (Phoenix, Ariz.) added nine points and seven rebounds.

Grad student Kiera Fernandes (Franklin, Mass.) and senior Abrianna Vazquez (Dedham, Mass.) combined for 35 points for the Bison (4-4 Overall) with Vazquez recording six assists and five steals.

Down 10 to begin the fourth, Nichols clawed its way back into the game. Fernandes and Vazquez sparked the Bison's offense with made jumpers before a three from sophomore Alyvia Smith (Fitchburg, Mass.) tied the game at 65-65 with 3:30 remaining. 

The Blue never gave Nichols the lead as a free throw from Funari and baskets from classmate Anna Bandini (Raleigh, N.C.) and Hofer made it 70-65 with just under two minutes remaining. Wellesley capitalized on a few missed Nichols' threes and Barrow made a foul shot with six seconds remaining to complete the triple-double as Wellesley finished a 75-69 victory.

The Blue held a 35-23 at halftime with Wellesley up by as much as 16 before the Bison cut it back down to 10 with two and a half minutes left in the half. 

Four early third quarter points gave the Blue a 39-23 lead before the Bison made it an eight point game with a three from Vazquez near the 7:30 mark. The teams alternated baskets for the remainder of the quarter, with Chae doing much of the scoring for Wellesley, who were up 54-44 after three quarters.

Wellesley shot 27-for-57 (47.4%) with a season-high 60 rebounds and 23 assists. Nichols went 13-for-46 (28.3%) from behind the arc and collected 22 steals.

Next up, the Blue compete at Colby-Sawyer on Tuesday, January 2, 2024 for a 12:30 PM contest with the Chargers. The Bison will host Emerson at 6:00 PM on Tuesday, December 12.