Wellesley Basketball Drops 56-44 NEWMAC Contest to Wheaton

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wheaton College utilized a second quarter run to earn a 56-44 NEWMAC win over Wellesley College basketball on Wednesday night at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse.

Sophomore Nasha Arnold (North Reading, Mass.) scored a game-high 13 points on five-of-eight shooting for the Lyons (10-12 Overall, 2-6 NEWMAC). Classmate Regan Keyter (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) grabbed eight rebounds and junior Abby Fernandes (Assonet, Mass.) dished out six assists.

Senior Jiyun Chae (Chantilly, Va.) and first years Trinity Barrow (Evans, Ga.) and Mirella Funari (Phoenix, Ariz.) all scored at least 10 points for the Blue (8-12 Overall, 1-7 NEWMAC). Junior Caitlin Windross (Eastvale, Calif.) pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds while Barrow had nine rebounds and four steals.

The Blue led 7-2 early before Wheaton tied the contest at 10-10 with a minute left in the first period. A jumper from Keyter gave the Lyons a 12-10 after one quarter.

Midway through the second quarter, Wheaton went on a 12-3 run to give the team a 13 point cushion going into halftime.

Wellesley opened the third quarter with nine unanswered points to cut the score to 32-28 at the 5:49 mark. The Lyons responded with an 8-0 run punctuated by a made jump shot from sophomore Madeline Duwe (Greenville, S.C.). Wheaton led 40-30 at the end of three.

Wheaton maintained a double-digit lead for the majority of the fourth quarter. Wellesley got the deficit down to nine with 2:32 remaining thanks to a midrange basket from Chae. Nine was the closest the score got as Wheaton hit late free throws to earn a 56-44 win.

Wheaton connected on 22-of-56 (39.3%) shots and Wellesley was 18-for-63 (28.6%). The Lyons outrebounded the Blue 48-34 and Wheaton scored 14 second chance points.

Both teams next compete at 1:00 PM on Saturday, February 10. The Blue play at Mount Holyoke while the Lions host Emerson.