Wellesley Basketball Stifles Mount Holyoke in 64-26 Win

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- Wellesley College basketball racked-up 26 steals and forced 34 turnovers in a 64-26 victory over New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) rival Mount Holyoke on Saturday afternoon at Howard Gymnasium. 

Wellesley first year Pujita Shukla (Austin, Texas) scored a game-high 14 points, and added three rebounds and four steals, to help Wellesley improve to 13-5 overall (5-2 NEWMAC). Mount Holyoke College is now 1-20 overall and 0-6 in conference play. 

Shukla was one of seven Wellesley players with multiple steals in the game. Classmate Rachel Shurberg (Fairfax, Va.) and senior Caitlin Aguirre (El Paso, Texas) each finished with a game-high six steals and ten points. Aguirre also had a game-high four assists. Senior Emily Kopp (King Ferry, N.Y.) pulled down a game-best 10 rebounds, as Wellesley finished the contest with a 47-28 advantage on the glass. 

Sophomore Mikayla McEwen (South Hadley, Mass.) and first year Kyra Sanborn-Burch (Tariffville, Conn.) each had seven points to lead Mount Holyoke. Junior Annika Brooks (Portland, Maine) pulled down a team-best eight rebounds and chipped in six points in 33 minutes of action.

Wellesley scored the first 14 points of the contest over a 6:23 span in the first quarter. McEwen stopped the Wellesley run with a triple at 1:27 but the Blue would take a double-digit lead, 16-4, into the second quarter. Wellesley limited the Lyons to one made field goal while forcing 12 turnovers in the opening quarter. 

The Blue lead would grow to a 19-point advantage by halftime. Wellesley opened the second quarter on a 6-0 run. McEwenn hit a free-throw at the 6:04 mark to make it 22-5, but Wellesley finished the quarter with a 12-7 edge to take a 31-12 lead at the break. 

The Wellesley lead only continued to grow in the second half, with the Blue outscoring the hosts 20-7 in the third quarter and 13-7 in the fourth. Shukla dropped in six of her 14 in the third quarter as Wellesley took a 51-19 advantage into the fourth. A 9-0 Wellesley run to close out the final quarter would give the Blue their largest lead of the day and the 64-26 victory.

Wellesley shot 34.8% (23-of-66) from the floor, while the Lyons were just 8-for-34 (23.5%) in the setback.

Both teams return to action on Wednesday, February 12, at 7:00 PM. The Blue will welcome Fisher in non-conference action and Mount Holyoke College will host Clark in NEWMAC play.