Late Push Gives Emerson a 55-46 Win over Wellesley

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Junior Taylor Hirn (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) scored a career high 15 points in a close 55-46 loss to Emerson inside Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse on Wednesday night.

The Blue fall to 3-11 overall and 1-3 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play. Emerson remains perfect at 3-0 in conference play and are 7-9 overall.

Sophomore guard Ella Bushee (Walpole, N.H.) set the pace for Emerson with 16 points and six rebounds. Classmate Olivia Deslauriers (West Hartford, Conn.) put up 13 points including a pair of three-pointers. Off the bench, Carla Pelino (San Jose, Calif.) contributed 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting.

To go along with her career high 15 points, Hirn added five rebounds and shot 6-of-8 from the charity stripe. Senior Valentina Morakis (Long Island, N.Y.) tallied 12 points and seven boards. First year Caitlin Windross (Eastvale, Calif.) added nine points and tied a team-high eight rebounds with Sariah O'Brien-Forde (Binghamton, N.Y.).

After falling behind 5-2 to open the contest, the Blue took its first lead of the game off an Anna Greenthal (Orinda, Calif.) layup at the 7:04 mark. The Blue pushed its lead to 14-5 after Windross scored in back-to-back possessions. Wellesley would hold a six point lead after the first quarter. Emerson battled back, scoring the first five points of the second including a three-pointer from Ava Salti (Melville, N.Y.). The Blue then sparked a 9-1 run capped off a Windross jumper and held a 25-16 lead with 3:37 remaining in the first half. The Lions would not go away, scoring the final seven points of the half and got a buzzer beating three-pointer by Bushee to tie the game at 27.

The teams traded buckets to open up the third and Hirn gave the Blue a one point lead at the 3:34 mark off a pair of free throws. The Blue got as high as a seven point lead in the third, after a beautiful dish by Greenthal set up an easy deuce for Windross. Down 42-35 early in the fourth, Salti knocked down a big three for the Lions to cut the lead to just four. Emerson earned the tying basket from Pelino, who then scored on the ensuing possession to give Emerson its first lead since the first quarter. Down four, Morakis converted on a huge layup to cut it to a one possession game with 2:13 to go. The Blue then earned a stop, but turned the ball over and the Lions capitalized with a made three-pointer by Deslaurier. Wellesley once again committed another turnover and the Lions came away with the 55-46 victory. 

Wellesley held Emerson to just 35.2% shooting, but allowed six three pointers while making just one. Turnovers proved to be the defining factor for the Blue with 22 total and Emerson scored 17 points off them.

Wellesley will meet NEWMAC opponent MIT in Cambridge on Saturday, January 29 with tip-off at 2:00 PM. Emerson remains on the road to face WPI on Saturday at 3:00 PM.